Bhutto's Assassination Deals Blow to U.S. Goal for Pakistan  —  The assassination today of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto is a major blow to the U.S. goal of stabilizing Pakistan, a volatile ally with nuclear weapons that has served as a frontline against extremism since the Sept. 11 …

Be Reasonable  —  As Iowa sizes up the candidates, so do I.  —  By next week politically active Iowans will have met and tallied their votes.  Their decision this year will have a huge impact on the 2008 election, and a decisive impact on various candidacies.  Some will be done in.  Some will be made.

Obama catches Clinton in N.H.; Iowa remains a 3-way contest  —  ELIMINATING THE GAP: Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois campaigns for the Democratic presidential nomination in Des Moines.  Iowa's Jan. 3 caucuses kick off the election season.  He is in a virtual three-way tie for the lead in Iowa …

Trouble With Trade  —  While the United States has long imported oil and other raw materials from the third world, we used to import manufactured goods mainly from other rich countries like Canada, European nations and Japan.  —  But recently we crossed an important watershed …

Under Attack, Drug Maker Turned to Giuliani for Help  —  In western Virginia, far from the limelight, United States Attorney John L. Brownlee found himself on the telephone last year with a political and legal superstar, Rudolph W. Giuliani.  —  For years, Mr. Brownlee and his small team …

Military Paper Challenges Defense Dept.  —  WASHINGTON — Top editors at the military newspaper Stars and Stripes are asking for full disclosure of the paper's relationship with a Department of Defense publicity program, called America Supports You, after disclosures that money for the program was funneled through the newspaper.

Rallying the middle class  —  I GREW UP in a small, rural town, and my parents didn't have a lot of money.  My mother worked at the post office and my father earned his living in a textile mill.  They worked hard to provide a better life for their children, and they taught me to believe …

Clinton's “don't ask” policy  —  As she races through Iowa in the days before next week's caucuses, Hillary Clinton is taking few chances.  She tells crowds that it's their turn to “pick a president,” but over the last two days she has not invited them to ask her any questions.

Defaults moving beyond sub-prime  —  Joan Olsen, a retired welfare worker, fears she'll join the ranks of the delinquent.  She said she didn't fully understand the loan terms when she refinanced her San Diego condominium 15 months ago with an option ARM.  “I have no one but myself to blame …