South Dakota law bans nearly all abortions  —  Legislation sets up court challenge  —  PIERRE, South Dakota (AP) — Gov. Mike Rounds signed legislation Monday banning nearly all abortions in South Dakota, setting up a court fight aimed at challenging the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion.

Suspect In UNC Hit-And-Run Wanted To 'Spread Will Of Allah'  —  Authorities Release 911 Call Made By Mohammed Taheri-azar  —  HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. — A suspect who is accused of hitting students with a sport utility vehicle at the University of North Carolina made his first court appearance Monday.

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.

President Bush losing support among Hoosiers  —  Survey: Bush's approval rating has dropped 18 points in Indiana over the past year  —  Indiana voted twice to elect George W. Bush to the White House, but an Indianapolis Star poll indicates more than half of Hoosiers now disapprove of the job he's doing as president.

Miami judge refuses to delay sentencing for lobbyist Abramoff  —  MIAMI — A federal judge on Monday refused to delay sentencing 90 days for disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff despite statements from government lawyers that sending Abramoff to prison could jeopardize his cooperation in ongoing criminal probes.

Taliban Man at Yale  —  University officials are embarrassed—but not embarrassed enough.  —  Are there no limits to how arrogant and out-of-touch America's Ivy League schools can get?  Last week it emerged that Sayed Rahmatullah Hashemi, former deputy foreign secretary of the Taliban …

Teheran park 'cleansed' of traces from nuclear site  —  Iran's Revolutionary Guards have taken the extraordinary step of cutting down thousands of trees in Teheran to prevent United Nations inspectors from finding traces of enriched uranium from a top-secret nuclear plant.

Guards Say Homeland Security HQ Insecure  —  WASHINGTON - The agency entrusted with protecting the U.S. homeland is having difficulty safeguarding its own headquarters, say private security guards at the complex.  —  The guards have taken their concerns to Congress, describing inadequate training …

Watchdog: What Ever Happened to the Civil Liberties Board?  —  'Outrageous': Kean has been frustrated by the response to commission recommendations  —  March 13, 2006 issue - For more than a year, the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board has been the most invisible office in the White House.

Oscar afterthoughts.  —  That was a long night of blogging yesterday!  But watching the Oscars without blogging is much more of a slog.  And I relied heavily on TiVo, so, really, it was a snap compared to just sitting around watching in real time.  I skipped nearly all of the speeches …

Hollywood's Real Phobia  —  It isn't fear of gays.  —  Always trust content from kf reader "G": … Note to F. Rich and competing Oscar pundits: It's not too late for that America-is-homophobic-after- all column. ...  Update: LAT's Kenneth Turan claims firsties on the Hollywood-is-homophic angle.

Bangla Bhai Arrested in Bangladesh  —  Fresh on the heels of the arrest of Abdur Rahman, Bangladesh nabs the other most wanted terrorist in the country  —  Bangladesh has scored the second high profile arrest of an al-Qaeda linked terrorist in less than a week, and essentially captured …

Levee Fixes Falling Short, Experts Warn  —  Corps Rejects Claim Of Substandard Soil  —  NEW ORLEANS — The Army Corps of Engineers seems likely to fulfill a promise by President Bush to rebuild New Orleans's toppled flood walls to their original, pre-Katrina height by June 1 …

Looking Back (and Ahead) With Edwards  —  CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — "Sometimes," says John Edwards, "people need a breather."  He is not talking about himself, although surely he needed one after his brief rocket ride through the upper atmosphere of national politics.

Kabuki Congress  —  Imagine being stopped for speeding and having the local legislature raise the limit so you won't have to pay the fine.  It sounds absurd, but it's just what is happening to the 28-year-old law that prohibits the president from spying on Americans without getting a warrant from a judge.

Bush to Propose Line-Item Veto Legislation  —  Bush to Send Congress Proposal for Line-Item Veto Bill; President Has Not Vetoed Legislation in 5 Years  —  WASHINGTON Mar 6, 2006 (AP)— President Bush plans to send proposed legislation to Congress on Monday that would allow him to control spending …

John Hinderaker Politely Responds  —  John Hinderaker of Powerline has responded to my post last night.  An excerpt: … In my experience, when you respond to criticism with a string of insults it usually means you have a really strong argument.  —  Yesterday's post documented five demonstrably false claims made by Hinderaker.

Scant Drop Seen in Abortion Rate if Parents Are Told  —  For all the passions they generate, laws that require minors to notify their parents or get permission to have an abortion do not appear to have produced the sharp drop in teenage abortion rates that some advocates hoped for, an analysis by The New York Times shows.