Republicans Halt Ethics Legislation  —  Senate Republicans scuttled broad legislation last night to curtail lobbyists' influence and tighten congressional ethics rules, refusing to let the bill pass without a vote on an unrelated measure that would give President Bush virtual line-item-veto power.

Newspaper Columnist Art Buchwald Dies at 81  —  Art Buchwald, 81, the newspaper humor columnist for more than a half-century who found new comic material in the issues that come up at the end of life, died of kidney failure last night at his son's home in Washington, his family announced today.

McCain no longer rocks in Granite State  —  As Mitt, Hillary, Barack and a dozen others jump into the presidential stampede, something interesting is happening in New Hampshire.  —  For seven years, conventional wisdom has said that the state's pivotal independent voters would line …

Maliki Stresses Urgency In Arming Iraqi Forces  —  Need for U.S. Troops Could Drop 'Dramatically'  —  The Iraqi government's need for American troops would "dramatically go down" in three to six months if the United States accelerated the process of equipping and arming Iraq's security forces …

A New Chance for Peace?  —  I am concerned that public discussion of my book "Palestine Peace Not Apartheid" has been diverted from the book's basic proposals: that peace talks be resumed after six years of delay and that the tragic persecution of Palestinians be ended.

Court to Oversee U.S. Wiretapping in Terror Cases  —  The Bush administration, in a surprise reversal, said on Wednesday that it had agreed to give a secret court jurisdiction over the National Security Agency's wiretapping program and would end its practice of eavesdropping without warrants on Americans suspected of ties to terrorists.

Cancer Deaths Decline For Second Straight Year  —  The number of Americans who died of cancer has dropped for a second straight year, marking a milestone in the war on the disease, officials said yesterday.  —  More than 3,000 fewer Americans died from cancer in 2004 than in 2003 …

Congressional Procession of Iraq Proposals Likely to Lead Nowhere  —  "You cannot run a war by committee," Vice President Cheney said over the weekend.  —  Oh?  Just watch them.  —  Lawmakers were introducing Iraq legislation at a mad pace yesterday, at one point in the afternoon scheduling news conferences in half-hour intervals.

Bush Faces Deepening War Opposition, Demand for Congress to Act  —  Jan. 18 (Bloomberg) — President George W. Bush failed to rally public support with his nationally televised speech announcing plans to send more soldiers to Iraq, as most Americans say they want Congress to find a way to stop the troop increase.

O'Reilly: Abducted child "liked ... his circumstances," had "a lot more fun" than usual  —  On the January 15 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly said of Shawn Hornbeck — who was abducted at the age of 11, held for four years, and recently found in Missouri — that …

Chinese Test ASAT?  —  I noticed this blurb on SEESAT today: … I've been hearing the same murmurings—and my sources tell me that a major defense publication is working on the story.  So, I suppose it is time to mention what is now an open secret inside the US defense community.

Dems to AG: How Many Prosecutors Have You Pushed Out?  —  At an oversight hearing this morning, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) grilled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales over the sudden departure of several U.S. Attorneys at the administration's request.  —  "How many U.S. Attorneys have been asked to resign in the past year?"

Speaking Chic to Power  —  LAUDING someone for their style on Capitol Hill is a lot like celebrating the best surfer on Florida's Gulf Coast — it's all relative, and some would argue irrelevant.  Washington has never embraced fashion (nor, for that matter, has the fashion world embraced Washington), and for understandable reasons.

Iran's discontent with Ahmadinejad grows  —  TEHRAN, Iran - Prices for vegetables have tripled in the past month, housing prices have doubled since last summer — and as costs have gone up, so has Iranians' discontent with hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his focus on confrontation with the West.

Obama's Past Offers Ammo for Critics  —  SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama may have a lot of explaining to do.  —  He voted against requiring medical care for aborted fetuses who survive.  He supported allowing retired police officers to carry concealed weapons …

Clinton Remains the Front-runner Among Democrats  —  McCain and Giuliani are front-runners among Republicans  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Although the first primaries and caucuses of the 2008 presidential race are still one year away, there has already been a great deal of focus on the election.