AMES: Romney WIns; Huckabee In Second  —  Gov Mitt Romney won the 2007 Ames straw poll, receiving 4516 votes, or 31%.  —  In a surprise, Gov. Mike Huckabee finished second with 2587 votes at 18.1%  —  11. John Cox with 41 votes.  —  10. John McCain with 101 votes.  —  9. Duncan Hunter with 174 votes.

How the Fight for Vast New Spying Powers Was Won  —  For three days, Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, had haggled with congressional leaders over amendments to a federal surveillance law, but now he was putting his foot down.  "This is the issue," said the plain-spoken …

Hizbollah buys frontier land to attack Israel  —  Hizbollah is buying up large tracts of land owned by Christians and other non-Shias in southern Lebanon as the militant group rebuilds its defences in preparation for a new war with Israel, The Sunday Telegraph has been told.

Warm-mongers and cheeseburger imperialists  —  Something rather odd happened the other day.  If you go to NASA's Web site and look at the "U.S. surface air temperature" rankings for the lower 48 states, you might notice that something has changed.  —  Then again, you might not.

Greenhouse Simplicities  —  We in the news business often enlist in moral crusades.  Global warming is among the latest.  Unfortunately, self-righteous indignation can undermine good journalism.  Last week's NEWSWEEK cover story on global warming is a sobering reminder.

Foreclosures may spur price drops  —  On L.A.'s edges, soaring repossessions could set off a downward spiral.  —  Major lenders are repossessing homes in Southern California much faster than they can sell them, a development that could set off a downward spiral of price cuts and more foreclosures.

MAYBERRY MAN  —  Is what New York never liked about Rudy Giuliani exactly what the heartland loves? … The South Carolina State House, a grand, copper-domed structure in downtown Columbia, is a showplace for the state's long history of hellbent defiance.  The most prominent feature …

The truth behind the Pollack-O'Hanlon trip to Iraq  —  Last Wednesday, I interviewed Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution regarding the trip he recently took to Iraq and the highly publicized Op-Ed in the New York Times about his trip, co-written with his Brookings colleague, Ken Pollack.

The Dangers of 'Peace' Making  —  America's latest efforts merely entrenched al Qaeda in the Gaza Strip.  —  The U.S. and other Western powers are pushing for a new Israeli-Palestinian breakthrough, to help contain Iran and undercut the appeal of al Qaeda and radical Islam.

Local Minister, Helper Charged With Assault  —  Flowers, Bassitt Allegedly Dragged Girl Behind Van  —  SAN ANTONIO — A local minister and one of his assistants Friday were charged with aggravated assault in connection with a Nueces County dragging incident.

Musharraf's State of Emergency  —  LAHORE, Pakistan — President Pervez Musharraf was on the verge of imposing a state of emergency in Pakistan last week before being stopped by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and civilian advisers.  It is clear to all in this extremely tense country …