NSA Spying Part of Broader Effort  —  Intelligence Chief Says Bush Authorized Secret Activities Under One Order  —  The Bush administration's chief intelligence official said yesterday that President Bush authorized a series of secret surveillance activities under a single executive order in late 2001.

Obama might send troops into Pakistan  —  WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Wednesday that he would possibly send troops into Pakistan to hunt down terrorists, an attempt to show strength when his chief rival has described his foreign policy skills as naive.

U.S. Attorney Became Target After Rebuffing Justice Dept.  —  The night before the government secured a guilty plea from the manufacturer of the addictive painkiller OxyContin, a senior Justice Department official called the U.S. attorney handling the case and, at the behest of an executive for the drugmaker …

Savage: "You're telling me there's no possibility of a conspiracy by the Democrats" to cause Roberts' seizure?  —  On the July 30 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Michael Savage reacted to news that Chief Justice John Roberts had suffered a seizure that day by raising the possibility that …

A New Owner  —  A change in control won't change Journal standards.  —  Rupert Murdoch's courtship of the Bancroft family appears to have triumphed, with enough shares pledged to make News Corp. the owner of the newspaper whose Web site you are now reading.

Rather than deny funding for Bush's initiatives, Congress should provide it now . . . * Congress should also give the president the money and support that he requests.  —  In February, O'Hanlon went to the Wall St. Journal Editorial Page to argue that Congressional Democrats were wrong to oppose …

South Korean Christian hostage crisis: Rescue attempt reported... "The operation has started"...Refuted?  —  Here's the latest video report of a reported rescue operation for the 21 remaining South Korean Christian hostages kidnapped by the Taliban in Afghanistan.  —  Stand by for more.

U.S.: Shiite militias main threat to Iraq  —  BAGHDAD — Despite President Bush's recent insistence that al Qaida in Iraq is the principal cause of this country's violence, senior American military officers here say Shiite Muslim militias are a bigger problem, and one that will persist even if al Qaida is defeated.

Analysis says war could cost $1 trillion  —  Budget office sees effect on taxpayers for decade  —  WASHINGTON — The war in Iraq could ultimately cost well over a trillion dollars — at least double what has already been spent — including the long-term costs of replacing damaged equipment …

Cheney admits was wrong about "last throes" in Iraq  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney acknowledged on Tuesday he was wrong in 2005 when he insisted the insurgency in Iraq was in its "last throes."  —  It was Cheney's most direct public admission of how badly …

Making Lemonade out of Lemons from the FCC's 700 MHz Spectrum Auction Decision  —  As we expected, the FCC voted today to require just two of the four "open access" conditions for one third of the 700 MHz spectrum that will be auctioned early next year.  The conditions the Commission adopted require …

This Time, Bill to Raise Yuan Might Pass  —  It has become a Capitol Hill ritual: A few senators, always including the New York Democrat Charles E. Schumer, introduce a bill to punish China if its leaders do not raise the value of the nation's currency.  Photos are taken, news releases are issued, but nothing really happens.

U.S. checking possibility of pumping oil from northern Iraq to Haifa, via Jordan  —  The United States has asked Israel to check the possibility of pumping oil from Iraq to the oil refineries in Haifa.  The request came in a telegram last week from a senior Pentagon official to a top Foreign Ministry official in Jerusalem.

Britain can't have two best friends  —  Gordon Brown's first Washington visit as Britain's prime minister has prompted tea-leaf reading about the strengths and weaknesses of the US-UK relationship.  Momentarily diverting - and probably unavoidable - as the frenzy of speculation is, the real tests lie ahead.