Dixie Chicks, Mary J. Blige and the Red Hot Chili Peppers Win Grammys  —  After death threats, boycotts and a cold shoulder from the country music establishment, the Dixie Chicks gained sweet vindication Sunday night at the 49th annual Grammy Awards, capturing honors in all five of the categories in which they were nominated.

UPDATE: 'Wash Post' Joins 'NYT' in Trumpeting 'Anonymous' Claims on Iranian Weapons in Iraq  —  NEW YORK First it was Michael Gordon in The New York Times on Saturday.  Now The Washington Post and others media outlets have joined in suggesting a slam dunk case for Iranian weapons killing Americans in Iraq.

GOP Expects Defections as House Debates Iraq Resolution  —  Three days of intense debate over the Iraq war begins in the House today, with Democrats planning to propose a narrowly worded rebuke of President Bush's troop buildup and Republicans girding for broad defections on their side.

Obama Plan Has a Critic in Australia  —  On his first trip to Iowa as a presidential candidate, Senator Barack Obama, Democrat of Illinois, found himself responding to an unexpected critic: John Howard, Australia's prime minister.  —  Mr. Howard, a conservative leader who is a close ally of the White House …

'America's mayor' praises Bush in state GOP speech  —  (02-11) 04:00 PST Sacramento — Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, arguing that America is in desperate need of a Ronald Reagan-style optimistic vision, told California Republicans on Saturday that he wants to be a president who will …

Cheney Testimony in Libby Trial Would Carry High Risk  —  One figure has dominated the trial of I. Lewis Libby Jr. without even showing up in the courtroom.  Day after day, the jury has heard accounts of the actions of Vice President Dick Cheney, watched as his handwritten notes were displayed …

Entrepreneurial Culture  —  Why European economies lag behind the U.S.  —  The nations of Continental Western Europe, in the reforms they make to try to raise their economic performance, may prove to be a testing ground for the view that culture matters for a society's economic results.

A menace to science  —  For years, 'Dr' Gillian McKeith has used her title to sell TV shows, diet books and herbal sex pills.  Now the Advertising Standards Authority has stepped in.  Yet the real problem is not what she calls herself, but the mumbo-jumbo she dresses up as scientific fact, says Ben Goldacre

Iran Softens Tone, Declares Readiness To Resume Talks  —  President and Top Negotiator Reject U.N. Call to Freeze Nuclear Program  —  Facing the prospect of broader international sanctions, Iran's president and national security chief on Sunday offered to resume negotiations …

McCain denies links to 'soft money' … MUNICH, Germany (CNN) — Sen. John McCain blasted a report in the Washington Post that said the Arizona Republican, who has campaigned against the use of "soft money," is using just those kinds of funds to support his GOP presidential nomination.

The Limits Of Sunniness  —  In this winter of their discontents, nostalgia for Ronald Reagan has become for many conservatives a substitute for thinking.  This mental paralysis — gratitude decaying into idolatry — is sterile: Neither the man nor his moment will recur.