Obama takes 1st step in presidential bid  —  WASHINGTON - Democratic Sen. Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) said Tuesday he is taking the initial step in a presidential bid that could make him the nation's first black to occupy the White House.  —  Obama announced on his Web site …

U.N.: 34,452 Iraq civilians killed in '06  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq - Nearly 35,000 civilians were killed last year in Iraq, the United Nations said Tuesday, a sharp increase from the numbers reported previously by the Iraqi government.  —  Gianni Magazzeni, the chief of the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq …

51% of Women Are Now Living Without Spouse  —  For what experts say is probably the first time, more American women are living without a husband than with one, according to a New York Times analysis of census results.  —  In 2005, 51 percent of women said they were living without a spouse …

An appalling threat  —  In the sorry mess that is the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba, one often-ignored element shows the American system at its best.  About 500 U.S. lawyers have volunteered to represent terror suspects held there, surely an unpopular task.

Castro Reportedly in Grave Condition  —  MADRID, Spain (AP) — Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro is in "very grave" condition after three failed operations and complications from an intestinal infection, a Spanish newspaper said Tuesday.  —  The newspaper El Pais cited two unnamed sources …

Yeas and Nays: Tuesday, Jan. 16  —  WASHINGTON - Jeff Dufour and Patrick Gavin cover people, power and politics in the beltway each weekday.  Email them at yan@dcexaminer.com .  —  Little to head WHCA's big night  —  He does a mean Ronald Reagan impersonation and his imitation of Richard Nixon is legendary.

FORMER U.N. OIL-FOR-FOOD CHIEF BENON SEVAN INDICTED OVER BRIBES FROM SADDAM'S REGIME  —  Benon Sevan.  —  Former U.N. Oil-for-Food chief Benon Sevan has been indicted in New York federal court for allegedly taking bribes under the program from Saddam Hussein's regime, U.S. authorities announced Tuesday.

Choice of Martinez sparks GOP rebellion  —  Rebellion is brewing among conservatives on the Republican National Committee over President's Bush's attempt to "impose" Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida as "general chairman" of the party, who favors "amnesty" for illegal aliens.

Democrats Seek the Middle on Social Issues  —  The promise may not outlast their political honeymoon, but Democratic Congressional leaders say they are committed to governing from the center, and not just on bread-and-butter issues like raising the minimum wage or increasing aid for education.

Stop the Escalation in Iraq  —  To: Legislators, Staff, and Interested Parties  —  From: Progressive States Network  —  Re: Preventing Escalation in Iraq  —  This LegAlert discusses the President's proposed escalation in Iraq, its implications for states and the nation …

AP: Iran Gets Army Gear in Pentagon Sale  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military has sold forbidden equipment at least a half-dozen times to middlemen for countries - including Iran and China - who exploited security flaws in the Defense Department's surplus auctions.

What Congress Can (And Can't) Do on Iraq  —  Congressional Democrats (and Republicans) who oppose President Bush's decision to send additional American troops to Iraq may frustrate his plan, but not — as suggested by Democratic Whip Jim Clyburn — by imposing 21,500 strings on the 21,500 new troops.

McCain Was Against War In Iraq Before He Was For It  —  So I began looking through some old newspaper clippings on the Gulf War for some research I have been doing, and you just wouldn't believe what I happened across.  Featured prominently in one article from August of 1990 …

Dispatches: Undercover Mosque  —  This is part one of the much-anticipated UK Channel 4 documentary Dispatches: Undercover Mosque, exposing evidence of Islamic supremacism, shocking misogyny, and support for violence at a number of Britain's leading mosques and Muslim institutions.

Burden Set to Shift On Balanced Budget  —  When he takes the House rostrum next week for the State of the Union address, President Bush will list among his goals a balanced federal budget, a shift for a president who has presided over record deficits while aggressively cutting taxes.

Rice Speaks Softly in Egypt, Avoiding Democracy Push  —  In the days before Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with officials in Egypt, the news media here were filled with stories detailing charges of corruption, cronyism, torture and political repression.

Second Iraq Hanging Also Went Awry  —  Iraq's turbulent effort to reckon with the violence of its past took another macabre turn on Monday when the execution of Saddam Hussein's half brother ended with the hangman's noose decapitating him after he dropped through the gallows trapdoor.