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.

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.

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.

In 2008, a 100 Percent Chance of Alarm  —  I'd like to wish you a happy New Year, but I'm afraid I have a different sort of prediction.  —  You're in for very bad weather.  In 2008, your television will bring you image after frightening image of natural havoc linked to global warming.

Our Boys blitz Taliban bash  —  On patrol ... British soldier in Helmand province  —  BRITISH commandos launched a devastating blitz on the Taliban - as the evil terrorists held a party to celebrate Benazir Bhutto's murder.  —  The dawn raid was staged after messages were intercepted …

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.

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.

Still Reeling After All These Years  —  It promised to be a very good year.  But then anything would be better than 1967, with its angry kids burning the flag, and the war raging, and American cities going up in flames one after another.  —  A Page 1 headline in The New York Times said: “World Bids Adieu to a Violent Year.”

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 …