BOXER'S LOW BLOW  —  Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, an appalling scold from California, wasted no time yesterday in dragging the debate over Iraq about as low as it can go - attacking Secre tary of State Condoleezza Rice for being a childless woman.  —  Boxer was wholly in character for her party …

GOP hits Pelosi's 'hypocrisy' on wage bill  —  House Republicans yesterday declared "something fishy" about the major tuna company in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco district being exempted from the minimum-wage increase that Democrats approved this week.

Clock Ticking on Dems' 100-Hour Agenda  —  WASHINGTON (AP) - The clock is ticking for House Democrats, but it's hard to tell what time it is.  —  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was touting a plan to push six bills through a Democratic House in 100 hours or less as early as June of last year.

Lam is asked to step down  —  Job performance said to be behind White House firing  —  The Bush administration has quietly asked San Diego U.S. Attorney Carol Lam, best known for her high-profile prosecutions of politicians and corporate executives, to resign her post, a law enforcement official said.

Blast at U.S. embassy called 'terrorism'  —  ATHENS, Greece - An anti-tank shell was fired at the U.S. Embassy early Friday, striking the front of the building but causing no injuries.  A senior police official said the blast was an act of terrorism, raising fears of a resurgence of far-left Greek militant groups.

Tears Are Shed at the White House for a Marine's Bravery in Iraq  —  In April 2004, Cpl. Jason L. Dunham, an ordinary recruit from a small town in upstate New York, did something extraordinary: he threw himself on a grenade to shield two men in his unit as they battled insurgents on a road in Iraq.

Unveiled Threats  —  A Bush appointee's crude gambit on detainees' legal rights  —  MOST AMERICANS understand that legal representation for the accused is one of the core principles of the American way.  Not, it seems, Cully Stimson, deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs.

Getting Iraq to Work  —  New York City's successes have lessons for Baghdad.  —  The American mission in Iraq must succeed.  Our goal—promoting a stable, accountable democracy in the heart of the Middle East—cannot be achieved by purely military means.  —  Iraqis need to establish a civil society.

House Passes Bill Relaxing Limits on Stem Cell Research  —  The House yesterday overwhelmingly approved a bill that would loosen the restrictions on human embryonic stem cell research imposed by President Bush in 2001, inaugurating the second such assault on the administration's stem cell policy in as many years.

The Two Vacuums  —  Neither Iraqis nor Democrats seem ready to do what's required of them.  —  I had the odd and wholly unexpected experience of feeling supportive of a troop increase until I saw the president's speech arguing for it.  What a jarring, furtive-seeming thing it was.

Bush's Tear For a Hero  —  WASHINGTON — American forces in Iraq yesterday wasted no time in implementing President Bush's new gloves-off policy toward Iran, raiding an Iranian building in northern Iraq and arresting five Iranian Revolutionary Guard operatives.

Convicted lawmakers to lose pensions  —  WASHINGTON - Members of Congress convicted of serious crimes would lose their taxpayer-paid pensions, sometimes totaling more than $100,000 a year, under a measure unanimously approved by the Senate Friday.  —  The 87- vote to deprive lawbreaking lawmakers …

The Question of the Day  —  Jim Webb is really one of the most exciting things to happen to our politics recently; the personification of potentially worthy electoral trends who's managed to pull it off not by embracing militarism but by showing that good sense in national security policy …

Bush's legacy: The president who cried wolf  —  Olbermann: Bush's strategy fails because it depends on his credibility  —  SPECIAL COMMENT  —  Only this president, only in this time, only with this dangerous, even messianic certitude, could answer a country demanding an exit strategy from Iraq …

PBS on Tom DeLay: Favors "Virtual Slavery"?  —  Exhibit A of a liberal bias at PBS is still the program Now, first hosted by Bill Moyers, and now by David Brancaccio.  On Friday night, the blatantly partisan ghost of Moyers was still hanging over the broadcast as Brancaccio led off …