The Taliban has returned to power in southern Afghanistan while stepped up violence in Iraq is adding record numbers to the body count — two bloody examples of President George W. Bush’s failed wars in both countries.
By ANDREW TAYLOR
More Democrats went on the attack Friday with campaign ads linking Republican candidates to the Mark Foley House page scandal while GOP candidates moved to distance themselves from embattled Speaker Dennis Hastert.
By THOMAS HARGROVE
At least eight former House pages have come forward or been sought out by the FBI and the news media to discuss their experiences with former Rep. Mark Foley of Florida.
Their reports have ranged from a widespread awareness among pages that Foley "flirted" with teenage males to extremely explicit sexual remarks allegedly made on line.
By LEE BOWMAN
Questions about who knew what and when about Rep. Mark Foley’s communications with House pages are now at the heart of a House investigation, while criminal investigators try to determine if any laws were violated by the former congressman in his contacts with minors.
By LISA HOFFMAN
As political ads capitalizing on the Mark Foley sex scandal prepared Friday to air across the country, the gears of a two-pronged federal investigation into the X-rated conversations the former lawmaker held with congressional pages started to turn.
But anyone looking for fast results from the FBI and House ethics committee probes of the circumstances surrounding contacts between the former House GOP lawmaker and male teenagers will be disappointed.
By RICHARD POWELSON
A national child advocacy group, seizing on the House page controversy, is urging Congress to approve $1 billion extra per year to mount an effective "war" on child porn and sexual predators.
By DEB RIECHMANN
The latest casualty in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal was a key aide to presidential political strategist Karl Rove who once worked for the disgraced influence-peddler.
Susan Ralston stepped down Friday from her post as a special assistant to President Bush. A congressional report showed she had extensive contacts with Abramoff and had accepted tickets to sporting events and concerts from him.
By LESLIE MILLER
Thousands of people have been mistakenly linked to names on terror watch lists when they crossed the border, boarded commercial airliners or were stopped for traffic violations, a government report said Friday.
STAR PARKER
There’s a difference between a party with principles not doing a good job executing those principles and a party with no principles. Anyone who thinks that turning the reins of power over to Democrats will raise the country’s moral bar should take a cold shower.
By JENNIFER TALHELM
In one week, several Interior Department workers spent more than 30 minutes on sexually explicit Web sites.
That same week, another computer showed more than 2,300 log entries at two Internet game sites for about 14 hours.
Still another was logged into an Internet auction for almost eight hours.