Attackers in a Taliban-controlled area of Pakistan shot and tried to behead a Pakistani journalist on Wednesday, according to his employer GEO TV. The slain correspondent, Mosa Khankhel, had been covering the recent peace deal between the Pakistani government and Taliban militants in Swat Valley when he was killed, GEO TV managing director Azhar Abbas said. "He is the first martyr of this peace deal," Abbas said, adding that he believes it is unlikely the deal will end the campaign ...

One can forgive the voting public of Illinois for not knowing whether to laugh or cry these days. Just when it seemed that the Rod Blagojevich corruption scandal might actually recede from the spotlight, with the accused governor booted out of office and his seemingly unimpeachable Senate pick Roland Burris firmly ensconced in Washington, comes another baffling chapter in the saga. Worse yet, the latest accusations of impropriety concern Burris himself, a former state attorney general who was appointed ...

It's been 145 years since Abraham Lincoln appeared on a ballot, but admiration for the man who saved the union and sparked the end of slavery is as strong as ever, according to a new survey. Lincoln finished first in a ranking by historians of the 42 former White House occupants. The survey was released over Presidents Day weekend. The news wasn't quite as good for the latest addition to the nation's most exclusive fraternity: George W. Bush finished ...