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.: 34,000 Iraqis killed last year  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq - The United Nations said Tuesday that more than 34,000 Iraqi civilians were killed in sectarian violence last year, nearly three times the number reported dead by the Iraqi government.  —  The Iraqi Health Ministry did not comment on the report …

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 …

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.

Legalize It  —  HOW TO SOLVE AFGHANISTAN'S DRUG PROBLEM.  —  The British Empire once fought a war for the right to sell opium in China.  —  In retrospect, history has judged that war destructive and wasteful, a shameless battle of colonizers against colonized that in the end helped neither side.

Some at Guantanamo Mark 5 Years in Limbo  —  Big Questions About Low-Profile Inmates  —  Shackled at the wrists and blinded by special goggles, the first captives from the U.S. war in Afghanistan were ushered to makeshift prison cells thousands of miles from the battle …

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.

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.

Iranian regime change: "Faster, please!"  —  ut as a politically divisive figure.  He's loved — and consulted at the highest levels — by his fellow travelers for his hard-line positions on the Middle East.  His catchphrase, "faster, please!" refers to the speed with which he'd like the United States to compel regime change in Iran.

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.

Dinesh D'Souza: 'The Left is Afraid of Bush'  —  A new book by respected conservative pundit and best-selling author Dinesh D'Souza argues that Islamic antipathy toward the U.S. stems from liberal values promulgated by the "cultural left" and promoted abroad.

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 …

A crowded womb  —  A twin leans over and kisses the cheek of her sister in a heart-warming picture that would not be out of place in any family home.  —  Yet these siblings are a not even born and the astonishing images have been captured on a new 'four-dimensional' ultrasound scan of the womb.

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 …

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.

A Rifle in Every Pot  —  IT'S a phenomenon that gives the term "gun control" a whole new meaning: community ordinances that encourage citizens to own guns.  —  Last month, Greenleaf, Idaho, adopted Ordinance 208, calling for its citizens to own guns and keep them ready in their homes in case of emergency.

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.

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.