IMPEACH BUSH

Al-Qaida Has Rebuilt, U.S. Intel Warns

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A new threat assessment from U.S. counterterrorism analysts says that al-Qaida has used its safe haven along the Afghan-Pakistan border to restore its operating capabilities to a level unseen since the months before Sept. 11, 2001. A counterterrorism official familiar with a five-page summary of the document -- titled "Al-Qaida better positioned to strike the West" -- called it a stark appraisal. The analysis will be part of a broader meeting at the White House on Thursday about an upcoming National Intelligence Estimate.

Republican Unity Fraying on Iraq War

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A long-awaited progress report on Iraq is being issued Thursday, with unity within President Bush's Republican party fraying, not to mention civility. "Wimps," House Republican leader John Boehner calls GOP defectors in the Senate -- a growing breed as public opinion polls chart ever-deepening opposition to the war and a climbing U.S. casualty count 16 months before the 2008 elections.

Showdown Looms Over Fired Prosecutors

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration says the president's immediate advisers are absolutely immune from having to appear before Congress, but legal scholars say the issue isn't that clear cut. The question grew more pressing Wednesday as President Bush ordered former White House counsel Harriet Miers to defy a congressional summons in the controversy over the administration's dismissals of federal prosecutors.

Lady Bird Johnson Dies at 94

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- A quiet woman who once turned down a class valedictorian's medal because she feared public speaking, Lady Bird Johnson found herself pulled suddenly into the public eye as first lady when her husband Lyndon B. Johnson became president amid tragedy. When she died of natural causes at her Austin home Wednesday, at age 94, Mrs. Johnson was remembered as loving and gentle, yet strong in spirit and in her dedication to her family and her passion for nature.

Lebanese Army Pounds Islamic Militants

TRIPOLI, Lebanon (AP) -- The Lebanese army pounded a Palestinian refugee camp with artillery fire on Thursday, but the military denied reports that the action was part of a final assault on the al-Qaida-inspired Islamic militants barricaded inside. The firing began just before dawn and hours after more than 150 civilians fled on foot from the camp in northern Lebanon, as soldiers ringing the neighborhood moved up tanks and armored vehicles.

S. Korea Sends Oil Aid to N. Korea

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- A shipment of oil headed Thursday to North Korea in exchange for the expected shutdown soon of the communist nation's only working nuclear reactor, which would be the first step by Pyongyang to stop making atomic bombs in nearly five years. The chief U.N. inspector, Mohamed ElBaradei, said he expects the agency's monitoring of the shutdown of the North's Yongbyon reactor will start "early next week" and the initial inspection is expected to be completed "within a maybe month or so."

S.D. Holds First Execution in Decades

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- A 25-year-old man was executed by lethal injection Wednesday for the torture and slaying of a teenager who was forced to drink hydrochloric acid in a robbery. It was the state's first execution in 60 years. Elijah Page gave up his appeals and asked to die for the 2000 murder of Chester Allan Poage, 19, who was also stabbed, kicked and bashed with large rocks in a torture session at a gulch in the Black Hills that lasted two to three hours.

Military Files Left Unprotected Online

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) -- Detailed schematics of a military detainee holding facility in southern Iraq. Geographical surveys and aerial photographs of two military airfields outside Baghdad. Plans for a new fuel farm at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. The military calls it "need-to-know" information that would pose a direct threat to U.S. troops if it were to fall into the hands of terrorists. It's material so sensitive that officials refused to release the documents when asked.

Longoria Says She Wasn't a Bridezilla

NEW YORK (AP) -- The endless details were numbing, but Eva Longoria says she kept her cool at her wedding to Tony Parker last week. "My stylist, Robert Verdi, and everybody around me was like, `You're so calm,'" Longoria tells OK! magazine in its latest issue, on newsstands Friday. "I actually don't stress about anything." The 32-year-old "Desperate Housewives" actress and the 25-year-old NBA star wed in a civil ceremony in Paris last Friday. The following day, they exchanged vows in a church across from the Louvre Museum and held an exclusive reception at a storied French chateau.

Chargers' Tomlinson Wins 4 ESPY Awards

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- LaDainian Tomlinson won four trophies at the ESPY Awards on Wednesday night, including male athlete of the year for his record-setting season with the San Diego Chargers. Tomlinson defeated LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, Wimbledon champion Roger Federer and Tiger Woods for athlete of the year.