Hastert, Top Aides Knew of Foley Allegations  —  Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and at least three of his aides were told of allegations that then-Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) had improper e-mail contacts with a former House page months before the incident became public and Foley resigned from Congress …

It was Bush's decision.  But Rumsfeld drove the dynamic on Iraq.  How the SecDef blew it.  An exclusive excerpt.  —  Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (left) had concerns about the 'overbearing style' of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (right), according to Woodward's book

The laughing 9/11 bombers  —  Exclusive film of suicide pilots at Bin Laden's HQ  —  FILM of the ringleader of the September 11 hijackers reading his "martyrdom" will inside Afghanistan at Osama Bin Laden's headquarters has emerged five years after the Al-Qaeda outrage.

Is there blood on his hands?  —  As Kofi Annan prepares to stand down as UN secretary-general, Adam LeBor investigates the accusations made against the world's chief defender of human rights  —  THE CASE AGAINST KOFI ANNAN  —  The bodies were still warm when Lieutenant Ron Rutten found them …

Justices to Hear Abortion, Integration Cases  —  'Partial-Birth' Procedure and Schools' Race Policies to Dominate Court's Agenda  —  Abortion and race dominate the Supreme Court's agenda for the term that begins tomorrow, with the Bush administration and its conservative allies urging …

Campaign 2006: The Republicans' Secret Weapon  —  You think the GOP is sure to lose big in November?  They aren't.  Here's why things don't look so bad to them  —  The polls keep suggesting that Republicans could be in for a historic drubbing.  And their usual advantage …

THE GLENN AND HELEN SHOW: MICHAEL TOTTEN ON BLOG-JOURNALISM AND THE MIDDLE EAST  —  Michael Totten is an independent blog-journalist who has covered the Middle East with support from his blog readers.  He's reported from Libya, Tunisia, Iraq, Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, and Egypt — and he's now planning another trip.

Saudis build 550-mile fence to shut out Iraq  —  Security in Iraq has collapsed so dramatically that Saudi Arabia has ordered the construction of a 550-mile high-tech fence to seal off its troubled northern neighbour.  —  The huge project to build the barrier, which will be equipped …

Mormon with a JFK touch is right on McCain's tail  —  FOR a glimpse of the top candidates for president in 2008, the best venue last week was a fashionable bar in Washington where the favourites for the Republican and Democratic nominations gathered like show ponies for the launch of a book called The Way to Win.

Florida Republicans angry at Foley's 'hypocrisy'  —  The congressman was known for crusading against sex predators and Internet porn.  —  FORT LAUDERDALE — At the height of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, a young Republican congressman from Florida did something that seemed ordinary at the time …

Tester holds 7-point lead on Burns, poll says  —  HELENA - Democratic challenger Jon Tester is leading Republican U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns by a 47 percent to 40 percent margin, a new Gazette State Poll shows.  —  Ten percent of the voters are undecided, while 3 percent said they would vote …

Blinded by Hindsight  —  FIVE years after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, three years after the 9/11 commission report, and just weeks before a national election, the issues of what happened before those attacks have resurfaced.  Suddenly, we are again witnessing heated disputes …