C.I.A. Was Urged to Keep Interrogation Videotapes  —  White House and Justice Department officials, along with senior members of Congress, advised the Central Intelligence Agency in 2003 against a plan to destroy hundreds of hours of videotapes showing the interrogations of two operatives of Al Qaeda, government officials said Friday.

Huckabee Surges, Obama Gains in Iowa  —  The new NEWSWEEK poll shows the former Arkansas governor now has a two-to-one lead over Romney, while Barack improves against Hillary.  —  Yana Paskova / Getty Images  —  Looking Up: Huckabee now seems unstoppable in the Iowa caucuses

Just 18% Believe Iran has Stopped Nuclear Weapons Development Program  —  Just 18% of American voters believe that Iran has halted its nuclear weapons program.  The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 66% disagree and say Iran has not stopped its nuclear weapons program.

Hill Close To Deal on War Funds  —  Plan Includes Boost In Domestic Spending  —  House Democratic leaders could complete work as soon as Monday on a half-trillion-dollar spending package that will include billions of dollars for the war effort in Iraq without the timelines for the withdrawal …

Clinton Team Turns Iowa Focus to Women  —  DES MOINES — Seeking to steady her campaign in Iowa, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton will bring a wave of prominent women to blanket the state and target female voters in the final weeks before its first-in-the-nation caucuses.

Former 'No Nukes' Protester: Stop Worrying and Love Nuclear Power  —  The only way to rescue our plug-hungry planet from catastrophic global warming is to embrace nuclear power, and fast.  —  That's the argument of Gwyneth Cravens, a novelist, journalist and former nuke protester.

Site of Barack-Oprah event isn't unionized  —  MANCHESTER - Barack Obama's presidential campaign deeply concerned organized labor by booking its big rally Sunday with superstar Oprah Winfrey at the Verizon Wireless Arena.  —  A union representing organized stage hands have been trying unsuccessfully …

Penn Endorses Kucinich For President In SF  —  Sr. Advisor Confirms Endorsement To NBC11  —  Academy Award-winning actor Sean Penn endorsed Dennis Kucinich for president in San Francisco Friday.  —  Penn made what had been billed as a "major political statement" at San Francisco State University.

Iran Curveball  —  This latest intelligence fiasco is Mr. Bush's fault.  —  President Bush has been scrambling to rescue his Iran policy after this week's intelligence switcheroo, but the fact that the White House has had to spin so furiously is a sign of how badly it has bungled this episode.

Jim McCrery to announce retirement  —  Rep. Jim McCrery (R-La.), the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, is planning to retire, according to GOP insiders.  —  The 58-year-old McCrery was first elected to the House in 1986, and he would have taken over the powerful Ways …

MIKE HUCKABEE'S SUNDAY SCHOOL FOREIGN POLICY  —  Earlier this week, I compared Mike Huckabee's stated approach to foreign policy to that of Jimmy Carter.  The more I learn about Huckabee, the more I think I may have been unfair to Carter (Carter the president, that is; not the Carter of today).

O'Reilly: Progressive blog readers = 'devil worshippers.'  —  On Fox News yesterday, Bill O'Reilly let loose on "far-left websites" like DailyKos, stating, "If you read these far-left websites, you're a devil worshipper.  You are."  O'Reilly's ombudsman responded, "As a journalist, you know better than that."

Why we stay mute on Islamic sex apartheid  —  US Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton last week urged President George W. Bush to call on King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia to drop all charges against a 19-year-old Saudi woman who had been gang-raped at knifepoint …