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.

U.S. Takes Steps to Reduce Shiite Domination in Iraqi Military  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 6 — As the threat of full-scale sectarian strife looms, the American military is scrambling to try to weed out ethnic or religious partisans from the Iraqi security forces.

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.

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.

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 …

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.

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.

Clinton cover-ups  —  Lost in the tumult over Islamic port deals and Katrina video capers is the recently released — and willfully ignored — Barrett Report.  David Barrett, you'll recall, is the independent counsel appointed in 1995 to investigate allegations of impropriety …

Democratic Sin Eaters  —  Speaking of Amy Sullivan's new article in the Washington Monthly about evangelicals leaving the Republican fold to join the Democrats, Kevin says: … Sullivan's article is only partially persuasive to me.  I'm with Atrios on this.

Democrats Stretch Lead in Vote for Congress  —  Fourteen-point Democratic lead is among the widest since 1994  —  PRINCETON, NJ — The latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, conducted Feb. 28 to March 1, finds the Democrats holding a substantial lead over the Republicans as the party …

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."

DeLay to spend election night with lobbyists  —  WASHINGTON — Rep. Tom DeLay, whose association with lobbyist Jack Abramoff has left him politically vulnerable, is spending Texas' primary night Tuesday at a fundraiser hosted by two Washington lobbyists.  —  DeLay faces three opponents in the Republican primary.

Guards Fault Homeland Security Protection  —  WASHINGTON — Guards at the Department of Homeland Security say the agency mishandled a potential anthrax attack on its headquarters, one of several incidents that led two senators to request an investigation of the agency's own security.