Clinton, Obama Clearing The Field  —  Without Declaring, They Beat Back Would-Be Rivals  —  Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), trading on star power, the capacity to raise tens of millions of dollars with relative ease and an ability to dominate media attention …

Ethiopia attacks Somalia Islamic council  —  MOGADISHU, Somalia - Ethiopia launched an attack Sunday on Somalia's powerful Islamic movement, sending fighter jets across the border and bombarding several towns in a major escalation of the violence that threatens to engulf the Horn of Africa.

From Thong to Thesis: Monica Lewinsky Flashes Her Intellect  —  There are moments that make you question your fundamental assumptions about the world.  One of them took place a few days ago, when news emerged that Monica Lewinsky had just graduated from the London School of Economics.  —  She did not!!

Channel tunnel is terror target  —  The Channel tunnel has been targeted by a group of Islamic militant terrorists aiming to cause maximum carnage during the holiday season, according to French and American secret services.  —  The plan, which the French DGSE foreign intelligence service became aware …

Looking Back, One Year Later  —  After my first year as The Post's ombudsman, readers deserve a report on my job as their representative.  —  The Post stylebook says that "Ombudsmen provide . . . newsroom managers with another set of skeptical eyes to search out human error and incompetence …

Top US military commander in Iraq succumbs to Bush's pressure, at the expense of our troops  —  I remember a day when our generals actually had balls.  Now they're simply pathetic.  They objected to sending more troops to Iraq, but because Bush wants it, now they're in favor.

Wolfowitz owes us an explanation  —  ACCOUNTABILITY is one of those ideals, like justice or the triumph of right over might, that are wonderful in principle but usually disappointing in practice.  —  This is nowhere more true than in Washington, where one of the most powerful men …

Most Britons believe religion does more harm than good: poll  —  An overwhelming number of Britons believe religion does more harm than good while non-believers outnumber believers by nearly two to one, an ICM poll suggested.  —  Eighty-two percent of the 1,006 adults questioned …

America's Red Ink  —  The largest employer in the world announced on Dec. 15 that it lost about $450 billion in fiscal 2006.  Its auditor found that its financial statements were unreliable and that its controls were inadequate for the 10th straight year.  On top of that, the entity's total liabilities …

Sunday Talking Head Thread  —  Here is the Sunday Talking Head line-up.  Read it and weep.  —  C-Span's Washington Journal: 7:45am - Donald Lambro, Washington Times, Chief Political Correspondent; 8:30am - Phoner From Baghdad: Larry Kaplow, Cox Newspapers, Middle East Correspondent; 9am …