The Guidebook for Taking a Life  —  We were in a small house in Zarqa, Jordan, trying to interview two heavily bearded Islamic militants about their distribution of recruitment videos when one of us asked one too many questions.  —  "He's American?" one of the militants growled.  "Let's kidnap and kill him."

Pentagon Confirms It Sought To Build A 'Gay Bomb'  —  (CBS 5) BERKELEY A Berkeley watchdog organization that tracks military spending said it uncovered a strange U.S. military proposal to create a hormone bomb that could purportedly turn enemy soldiers into homosexuals and make them more interested in sex than fighting.

Military Envisions Longer Stay in Iraq  —  Officers Anticipate Small 'Post-Occupation' Force  —  BAGHDAD — U.S. military officials here are increasingly envisioning a "post-occupation" troop presence in Iraq that neither maintains current levels nor leads to a complete pullout …

The Zero-to-60 Thompson Run  —  Fred gears up for 2008.  —  In early March, only a handful of Fred Thompson's good friends knew that he was even thinking about a bid for president.  Three months later, according to several polls, Thompson is in second place nationally, trailing frontrunner Rudy Giuliani.

Fatwa forbids PA Muslims to emigrate  —  Alarmed by the growing number of Palestinians who are emigrating from the Palestinian territories, the Palestinian Authority's mufti has issued a fatwa [religious decree] forbidding Muslims to leave.  —  Sources in the PA Foreign Ministry told …

Judge Walton's Lesson  —  Years ago, when campaigns were drowning in political rhetoric on the crime issue, I got The Post to reassign me temporarily to the District of Columbia courthouse so I could learn from front-line law enforcement what worked — and what didn't — to keep the streets safe.

Bush Violates Papal Protocol  —  People are apparently upset that President Bush violated protocol in his meeting with Joe Ratzinger this morning. … This causes gasps?  Really?  —  Bush isn't Catholic.  He's the leader of the dominant country on the planet.

Why Washington Can't Get Much Done  —  MEMBERS of Congress — with the possible exceptions of Senator Robert C. Byrd and Representative John D. Dingell — come and go.  So do presidents and even Supreme Court justices.  —  But some big issues come to the nation's capital and never leave …

UN warns of five million Iraqi refugees  —  Half of displaced people have no access to food aid  —  Omar, a Sunni driver, lived in a pleasant house in a Shia neighbourhood of al-Jihad district in west Baghdad until he decided that it was too dangerous for his family to stay.

The $5 Million Man?  —  If the latest report pans out, Ron Paul has leaped out of the asterisk box in the GOP campaign.  His largely online funding, if verified, would put him on a par with McCain.  Money quote: … I'd credit the Internet, wouldn't you?  Stay tuned for confirmation.

Grass Roots Roared and Immigration Plan Collapsed  —  The undoing of the immigration bill in the Senate this week had many players, but none more effective than angry voters like Monique Thibodeaux, who joined a nationwide campaign to derail it.  —  Mrs. Thibodeaux, an office manager …

Cool Reception for Bible Park in Bible Belt  —  Behind Blackman United Methodist Church, on a low hillock overlooking a freshly mown meadow, wooden benches face a sturdy altar table and a plywood lectern.  A plain cross, slightly bowed by weather, towers over the outdoor chapel.

MI6 probes UK nuclear link to Iran  —  A British company has been closed down after being caught in an apparent attempt to sell black-market weapons-grade uranium to Iran and Sudan, The Observer can reveal.  —  Anti-terrorist officers and MI6 are now investigating a wider British-based plot allegedly …

Amid death and chaos, the Scouts revive an idea of fun for children  —  A cordon at the camp protects them from unexploded bombs but the tradition lives on 80 years after it was introduced by the British  —  Armed with rakes and wheelbarrows, a group of Iraqi Scouts and Guides is clearing a patch of Baghdad woodland.