Pressed by U.S., Pakistan Seizes a Taliban Chief  —  The former Taliban defense minister was arrested in Pakistan on Monday, the day of Vice President Dick Cheney's visit, two government officials said Thursday.  He is the most important Taliban member to be captured since the American-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

Sources: GOP lawmakers tried to influence federal investigation  —  WASHINGTON - Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson of New Mexico pressured the U.S. attorney in their state to speed up indictments in a federal corruption investigation that involved at least one former Democratic state senator …

New Bush, Iraq Poll Numbers  —  In the months since the Congressional elections, President Bush has lost substantial support among members of his own party, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.  —  Mr. Bush's approval rating dropped 13 percentage points since last fall among Republicans …

McCain says U.S. lives 'wasted' in Iraq  —  WASHINGTON - Republican presidential contender John McCain (news, bio, voting record), a staunch backer of the Iraq war but critic of how President Bush has waged it, said U.S. lives had been "wasted" in the four-year-old conflict.

Oh George, what will we do when you're gone?  —  Our columnist on an easy target for America-bashers  —  Somewhere, deep down, tucked away underneath their loathing for George Bush, in a secret place where the lights of smart dinner-party conversation and clever debating-society repartee never shine …

Reading Hillary Rodham's hidden thesis  —  Clinton White House asked Wellesley College to close off access  —  Hillary Rodham, in a 1965 freshman photo when she was president of Wellesley College's Young Republicans, with the cover page of her senior thesis from 1969 on radical organizer Saul D. Alinsky.

Music Of the Spheres  —  You might not have noticed, but we broke another U.S. space record last month when astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria logged his 67th hour of spacewalking.  If you consider that the equivalent of the Guinness record for pogo-stick bouncing (23.11 miles in 12 hours and 27 minutes) …

A new twist to an intriguing family history … WASHINGTON // Many people know that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's father was from Kenya and his mother from Kansas.  —  But an intriguing sliver of his family history has received almost no attention until now …

Poll Shows Majority Back Health Care for All  —  A majority of Americans say the federal government should guarantee health insurance to every American, especially children, and are willing to pay higher taxes to do it, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.

20 dead as tornadoes hit Ga., Ala., Mo.  —  ENTERPRISE, Ala. - A violent storm system that ripped apart an Alabama high school as students hunkered inside later tore through Georgia, hitting a hospital and raising the death toll to at least 20 across the Midwest and Southeast.

Vilsack says early polls didn't show his strength  —  The former Iowa governor says it was his inability to raise money that forced him from the presidential race.  —  Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack criticized public opinion polls Friday and said his presidential campaign was running stronger …

At Site of '65 March, an '08 Collision  —  Sunday's Selma Event to Be a Stage for Obama — and Clinton(s)  —  Bill Clinton will join Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton at a commemoration of the 1965 civil rights march in Selma, Ala., on Sunday, bringing his star power and popularity among African Americans …

Shortages Threaten Guard's Capability  —  Nearly 90 percent of Army National Guard units in the United States are rated "not ready" — largely as a result of shortfalls in billions of dollars' worth of equipment — jeopardizing their capability to respond to crises at home and abroad …

Guardian article misrepresents the advisers' view  —  Today's Guardian article ("Military Chiefs Give US Six Months to Win Iraq War") misrepresents the Baghdad advisers.  So much so, it makes me doubt the reliability of the single, unidentified source responsible for much of the article's reporting.

Rightosphere Temperature Check: Polling Right-Of-Center Bloggers On Key Issues (1st Quarter, 2007)  —  Right Wing News emailed more than 240 right-of-center bloggers and asked them to answer 8 questions.  The following 63 blogs responded,  —  Aaron's CC, The Absurd Report, David All Group …

Best of the Web  —  Today's Video on WSJ.com: Inside the Editorial Page—Paul Gigot & Co. discuss Al Gore's energy gluttony and Vice President Cheney's trip to Pakistan.  —  The Color of Money  —  Tennessee blogger Bill Hobbs picks up the story of Al Gore's voracious household energy use, which we noted Tuesday: