For Democrats, Iowa Still Up for Grabs  —  The top three Democratic presidential contenders remain locked in a close battle in Iowa, with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) seeing her advantages diminish on key issues, including the questions of experience and which candidate is best prepared …

Thompson skids while Romney, Paul climb in N.H. poll  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson has skidded into sixth place in a new CNN/WMUR poll of likely Republican voters in New Hampshire, edged out by ex-Libertarian and anti-war congressman Ron Paul and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Baghdad Starts to Exhale as Security Improves  —  Five months ago, Suhaila al-Aasan lived in an oxygen tank factory with her husband and two sons, convinced that they would never go back to their apartment in Dora, a middle-class neighborhood in southern Baghdad.

AP Photog & Terrorist Propagandist Bilal Hussein to be Charged (UPDATE: Jawa helped nab Bilal Hussein?!?!)  —  ***Bumped: The Jawa Report credited with Bilal Hussein prosecution!!  Scroll to end for details***  —  Above: Curiously, al Qaeda in Iraq fighters in pose for Bilal Hussein.

DMV Stifles L.I. Man's 'Get Osama' Campaign  —  Hauppauge Resident Prepared To Fight For 'Free Speech'  —  There's a $25 million reward out for his capture, so it's no secret the United States government wants to get Osama Bin Laden.  But when a Long Island man wanted to express that thought …

A myth in the unmaking  —  Fox News's status as a politically impartial channel is at last being exposed as a fiction  —  Britons may be familiar with Rupert Murdoch, but I don't think the UK has a beast quite like the American Fox News Channel.  Celebrating its 11th year on the air, Fox is a breathtaking institution.

Iraqis Joining Insurgency Less for Cause Than Cash  —  MOSUL, Iraq — Abu Nawall, a captured al-Qaeda in Iraq leader, said he didn't join the Sunni insurgent group here to kill Americans or to form a Muslim caliphate.  He signed up for the cash.  —  "I was out of work and needed the money …

Effectiveness of D.C. gun ban still a mystery  —  WASHINGTON - Three decades ago, at the dawn of municipal self-government in the District of Columbia, the city's first elected mayor and council enacted one of the country's toughest gun-control measures, a ban on handgun ownership that opponents …

From Johnny Doo to Rico Suave?  —  I reported last week that former state Sen. Rico Oller of Calaveras County was standing with embattled U.S. Rep. John Doolittle, R-Roseville, at a GOP event.  I also mentioned in that piece that Rico (who lost a nasty Republican primary contest …

News staffers at CBS authorize a strike  —  Union officials hope the vote prompts the network to resume negotiations.  The two sides last met in January.  —  NEW YORK — CBS news writers, graphic artists and other staffers who work for the network's television and radio news operations voted …