Official: Cheney Urged Wiretaps  —  Stand-In for Ashcroft Alleges Interference  —  Vice President Cheney told Justice Department officials that he disagreed with their objections to a secret surveillance program during a high-level White House meeting in March 2004, a former senior Justice official told senators yesterday.

Document: Iran Caught Red-Handed Shipping Arms to Taliban  —  Brian Ross and Christopher Isham Report:  —  NATO officials say they have caught Iran red-handed, shipping heavy arms, C4 explosives and advanced roadside bombs to the Taliban for use against NATO forces, in what the officials …

Immigrant Measure Survives Challenges  —  The plan to overhaul the nation's immigration system survived its most serious challenges yesterday, when the Senate defeated amendments to disqualify hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants from legalization and to extend visas to hundreds …

Biologists Make Skin Cells Work Like Stem Cells  —  In a surprising advance that could sidestep the ethical debates surrounding stem cell biology, researchers have come much closer to a major goal of regenerative medicine, the conversion of a patient's cells into specialized tissues that might replace those lost to disease.

Obama To Beat Clinton In Second Quarter Fundraising  —  The Huffington Post has learned from sources close to both candidates that the Obama campaign will surpass the Clinton campaign in second quarter fundraising.  "It's a matter of pure mathematics," an Obama fundraiser told HuffPost.

Beware the Bloggers' Bile  —  A strange thing happened to me the day the House of Representatives voted to pass the Iraq-war-funding bill.  Congresswoman Jane Harman of California called as the debate was taking place.  "Look, I would love to have cast a vote against Bush on this," she told me.

I'm a McCain Man, Through and Through—Unless the Democrats Nominate Obama.  Then, Forget the McCain Thing  —  Barack Obama cultivates an image as a politician whose appeal reaches across party lines.  But even he might be surprised to learn that one of his biggest admirers works for GOP Sen. John McCain …

Campaign Funds for Alaskan; Road Aid to Florida  —  It is no secret that campaign contributions sometimes lead to lucrative official favors.  Rarely, though, are the tradeoffs quite as obvious as in the twisted case of Coconut Road.  —  The road, a stretch of pavement near Fort Myers …

Report: 39 secretly imprisoned by U.S.  —  LONDON - A coalition of human rights groups has drawn up a list of 39 terror suspects it believes are being secretly imprisoned by U.S. authorities and published their names in a report released Thursday.  —  Information about the so-called …

'Homosexuality Isn't Natural or Healthy'  —  Bush's Choice for Top Doc Compared Human Genitalia to Pipe Fittings and Said Homosexual Practices Can Cause Injury or Death  —  President Bush's nominee for surgeon general, Dr. James W. Holsinger Jr., wrote a paper in 1991 that purported …

ANALYSIS: OIL STRIKERS MET BY IRAQI TROOPS  —  On the third day of an oil strike in southern Iraq, the Iraqi military has surrounded oil workers and the prime minister has issued arrest warrants for the union leaders, sparking an outcry from supporters and international unions.

Re: Flapdoodlery [John Derbyshire]  —  Andy: Someone once called New York City "the capital of a country that doesn't exist."  It's an odd sort of place.  Personally, I love it, and it's made a great contribution to the USA.  It is not, however, all by itself, the USA.

A Contender's Worn-Out Welcome  —  The dynamic performance by John Edwards in Sunday's Democratic presidential debate, assailing his competitors for the nomination, got high marks from political reporters, Republican politicians and left-wing activists.  But not from the Democratic establishment.

Lynne Cheney, Susan Thomas floated as possible replacements for late Sen. Craig Thomas  —  Lynne Cheney, wife of Vice President Dick Cheney, is being floated in Senate GOP leadership circles as a possible replacement for the late Sen. Craig Thomas (R-Wyo.), who died Monday night.

Neither Prison Nor Pardon  —  Justice in the Libby Case Lies With Bush's Third Option  —  Scooter Libby should not be pardoned.  But his punishment — 30 months in prison, two years' probation and a $250,000 fine — is excessive.  President Bush should commute the sentence by eliminating the jail term while preserving the fine.