Why Republicans Are Skipping a 2012 Presidential Run

Governor of Mississippi Won’t Run for President

By JEFF ZELENY

Saying he lacks the necessary “absolute fire in the belly,” Haley Barbour abandons efforts to seek the Republican nomination.

Dossier Shows Push for More Terror Attacks After 9/11

By SCOTT SHANE and BENJAMIN WEISER

Saifullah Paracha was one of a small circle of Al Qaeda operatives who explored ways to follow up on the hijackings with new attacks, according to classified Guantánamo files.

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• Interactive Feature: The Guantánamo Docket
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Law Firm Won’t Defend Marriage Act

By MICHAEL D. SHEAR and JOHN SCHWARTZ

The law firm hired by the House to defend the Defense of Marriage Act withdrew amid pressure from gay rights activists.

• California: Marriage Ban’s Backers Raise Issue of Judge’s Relationship

Crowd to Join as Giffords Views Shuttle Launching

By MARC LACEY

Family, friends, aides, health workers and the president will join Representative Gabrielle Giffords as she watches her husband return to space on Friday.

Justices Reject Request for Fast Health Law Ruling

By ADAM LIPTAK

The Supreme Court on Monday turned back an unusual request from Virginia to put the state’s challenge to the new federal health care law on a fast track.

Reopening of Blackwater Case Confuses Iraqi Victims

By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT

Four American contractors who worked for Blackwater Worldwide are facing manslaughter charges in the deaths of 17 Iraqis in Baghdad in 2007.

In a Life Filled With Firsts, One More

By LIZETTE ALVAREZ

Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a tireless politician, a mother of three and a cancer survivor, has a new job: Democratic party chairwoman.

Lawmakers Seek to Unclog Road to Confirmation

By CARL HULSE

Lawmakers in both parties are moving to cut the number of administration posts subject to Senate approval.

A Fight Over How Drugs Are Pitched

By NATASHA SINGER

Marketing to doctors using prescription records bearing their names is an increasingly contentious practice, with three states enacting laws to limit the uses of the records for marketing.

In a Place of Fragile Alliances, a Romance Endures

By ASHLEY PARKER

Two Democratic state senators have maintained a much-spoken-about personal relationship in a legislative chamber more familiar with fragile alliances.

McCain Raises Specter of Libyan Stalemate

By DAN BILEFSKY

Senator John McCain warned on Sunday that he feared the conflict in Libya threatened to create a vacuum that could result in Al Qaeda gaining control.

Resistance to Gas Drilling Rises on Unlikely Soil

By KATE GALBRAITH

In several Texas cities, opposition to natural gas drilling and the accompanying process of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has emerged.

In Emanuel’s Team, a Mirror of the Man

By DAVID GREISING

With a C.E.O. mentality, Rahm Emanuel is making his early cabinet picks not just as a street-fighting former congressman, but also as a former investment banker.

Vermont Exercising Option to Balance the Budget

By ABBY GOODNOUGH

The only state without a budget-balancing requirement has turned out to be a fiscal goody two-shoes.