South Dakota Bans Abortion, Setting Up a Battle  —  Gov. Michael Rounds of South Dakota signed into law the nation's most sweeping state abortion ban on Monday, an intentional provocation meant to set up a direct legal challenge to Roe v. Wade, the 1973 United States Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal.

Expert on Iraq: 'We're In a Civil War'  —  U.S. Officials Deny Violence Has Risen to That Level, but ABC News Analysts See a 'Serious Lack of Realism'  —  BAGHDAD, March 5, 2006 — As Pentagon generals offered optimistic assessments that the sectarian violence in Iraq had dissipated this weekend …

EXCLUSIVE: Iraq Weapons — Made in Iran?  —  Intelligence Officials Say Weapons Responsible for Increasing U.S. Deaths in Iraq  —  March 6, 2006 — U.S. military and intelligence officials tell ABC News that they have caught shipments of deadly new bombs at the Iran-Iraq border.

Wal-Mart Enlists Bloggers in Its P.R. Campaign  —  Brian Pickrell, a blogger, recently posted a note on his Web site attacking state legislation that would force Wal-Mart Stores to spend more on employee health insurance.  "All across the country, newspaper editorial boards …

Democrats Struggle To Seize Opportunity  —  News about GOP political corruption, inept hurricane response and chaos in Iraq has lifted Democrats' hopes of winning control of Congress this fall.  But seizing the opportunity has not been easy, as they found when they tried to unveil an agenda of their own.

House Conservatives Prepare Austere Alternative Budget  —  WASHINGTON, March 6 — With Congress heading into a politically perilous budget season, influential House conservatives plan this week to propose an austere alternative spending plan that would pare more than $650 billion over five years …

Still Evolving, Human Genes Tell New Story  —  Providing the strongest evidence yet that humans are still evolving, researchers have detected some 700 regions of the human genome where genes appear to have been reshaped by natural selection, a principal force of evolution, within the last 5,000 to 15,000 years.

Iraqi Tribes Strike Back at Insurgents  —  In Turbulent Areas, Zarqawi's Fighters Are Target of Leaders and a New Militia  —  BAGHDAD, March 6 — First they killed the chief of the Naim tribe and his son.  Then they killed a top tribal sheik who headed the Fallujah city council.

Our Boys Need Gossip!  —  If we may do a brief update to a post of ours that got a substantial amount of attention last week:  —  We were originally going to say that we don't actually believe that we here at Wonkette are being "censored" by anyone just because military computers in Iraq are blocked from viewing our site.

The Democrats' Real Problem  —  It is now an ingrained journalistic habit: After a period of bad news for President Bush, media outlets invariably devote time and space to "balancing" stories that all say more or less: "Yes, the Republicans are in trouble, but the Democrats have no alternatives, no plans," etc.

Dodge City showdown at funeral  —  DODGE CITY, Kansas (CNN) — This past Saturday morning I found myself in a five-car caravan cutting across the Kansas plains with about 30 religious protesters.  In the back of a truck, there were signs that read "Thank God for IED's" and "Thank God for Dead Soldiers."

Backseat Strategists  —  Do the Democratic Party's harshest internal critics finally have a plan for building a political majority?  —  What's most provocative in this year's crop of books about renewing the Democratic Party is what's missing.  The old sectarian fights about ideology …

Mr. Bush's Asian Road Trip  —  There is a lot of good a president can do on a visit to another country: negotiate treaties that enhance American security, shore up a shaky alliance, generate good will in important parts of the world.  Unfortunately, President Bush didn't do any of those good things …

Driver at UNC Cites Vengeance for Muslims  —  CHAPEL HILL, N.C., March 6 — A University of North Carolina graduate from Iran, accused of running down nine people on campus to avenge the treatment of Muslims, said at a hearing Monday that he was "thankful for the opportunity to spread the will of Allah."

Senior Iraqi General Killed in Ambush  —  At Least 20 Die, 50 Hurt in Renewed Violence  —  BAGHDAD, March 6 — The top commander of the Iraqi army division in Baghdad was killed Monday when his car came under small-arms fire while traveling through the capital, the U.S. military said.