New Iowa Poll: Obama widens lead over Clinton  —  Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has widened his lead in Iowa over Hillary Clinton and John Edwards heading into Thursday's nominating caucuses, according to The Des Moines Register's final Iowa Poll before the 2008 nominating contests.

Bhutto report: Musharraf planned to fix elections  —  NAUDERO, Pakistan — The day she was assassinated last Thursday, Benazir Bhutto had planned to reveal new evidence alleging the involvement of Pakistan's intelligence agencies in rigging the country's upcoming elections, an aide said Monday.

ABC, Fox News cutting low-polling presidential candidates out of debates  —  NEW YORK: ABC and Fox News Channel are narrowing the field of presidential candidates invited to debates this weekend just before the New Hampshire primary, in Fox's case infuriating supporters of Republican Ron Paul.

In a safer Baghdad, Iraqis party for 2008  —  BAGHDAD (Reuters) - On New Year's Eve Ridaa al-Azzawi squeezed into his pointy snakeskin boots, his tight black sweater and his snazzy corduroy flared jeans, hustled down to a Baghdad hotel ballroom and partied for peace.

Road to Nowhere  —  The most impressive thing about Mitt Romney is his clarity of mind.  When he set out to pursue his party's nomination, he studied the contours of the Republican coalition and molded himself to its forms.  —  Earnestly and methodically, he has appealed to each of the major constituency groups.

Nader throws support to Edwards  —  MUSCATINE, Iowa — Ralph Nader unleashed on Hillary Rodham Clinton Monday - criticizing her for being soft on defense spending and a chum of big business - and expressed his strong support for John Edwards.  —  In an 11th hour effort to encourage liberal Iowans to …

ON DEADLINE: Did Huckabee go too far?  —  DES MOINES, Iowa - Mike Huckabee may have finally gone too far.  —  After running an unconventional, surprisingly strong and sometimes strange race to the top tier of the Republican presidential campaign, the former Arkansas governor topped himself Monday …

Defaults on Insured Mortgages Rise 35% to Record  —  Dec. 31 (Bloomberg) — Defaults on privately insured U.S. mortgages rose 35 percent in November to a record, an industry report today showed, adding to evidence the U.S. housing slump is deepening.  —  The number of insured borrowers falling …

Muslim Minority Marches Against German Crime Show  —  The popular German TV series “Tatort” has provoked an uproar within a segment of its Turkish community.  Alevi Muslims, who practice a tolerant offshoot of Shiism, say the show has revived a centuries-old incest libel and may inflame immigrant tensions in Germany.

UA law student, beauty queen faces kidnapping and robbery charges  —  A University of Arizona law school student and beauty queen has been indicted on charges that say she and three others held her former boyfriend captive for 10 hours while torturing and robbing him.