Kerry Bows Out of 2008 Race  —  Senator John Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat who narrowly lost the presidency to George Bush in 2004, stepped away today from what he had described as an almost all-but-certain second bid for the White House, bowing to a Democratic Party that was clearly unreceptive …

Cheney Spars with Blitzer Over Criticism of Iraq, Mary's Pregnancy  —  During an exclusive interview with Wolf Blitzer on The Situation Room, an especially brash Vice President Cheney called criticism of his administration's handling of Iraq "hogwash" and questions about his daughter Mary's pregnancy …

Minimum Wage Bill Suffers Setback in Senate  —  WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 — Prospects for an increase in the minimum wage suffered a setback today in the Senate, where a move fell short, at least for now, to raise the minimum by $2.10 an hour without tax breaks for small businesses

Take The Pledge  —  Take the pledge.  This is the temporary site.  The full-service site will be up soon.  —  If you are a blogger who has taken the pledge and linked to the site, please send me a note so I can add your support here.  —  I interviewed Tony Snow at the top of the program today …

Fox's Gibson: CNN Reporter Who Debunked Obama Smear Probably Went To The Same Madrassa  —  Last week, Fox News highlighted a right-wing report alleging that Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) attended an Islamic "madrassa" school as a 6-year-old child.  In a memo released today, Obama's office specifically called …

Senate Panel Votes Against Bush on Iraq  —  The Senate Foreign Relations Committee today passed a nonbinding resolution opposing a troop surge in Iraq, rebuffing the key element of President Bush's new strategy to end the 46-month-old war, which has claimed the lives of more than 3,000 U.S. service members.

Hillary's Hollywood Friends Switch Sides  —  Steven Spielberg and David Geffen Invite Hundreds of Stars to Their Big Barack Obama Fundraiser  —  Is Hollywood abandoning Hillary?  —  On Wednesday morning, hundreds of Hollywood's movers and shakers received an invitation that they may find hard to refuse.

Source: Saudis, Iran working on deal to end Lebanon crisis  —  Saudi Arabia and Iran, backers of the main rivals in Lebanon's political crisis, are negotiating a deal to end the standoff, Lebanese political sources said.  —  According to the sources, Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan held talks …

Ayatollah's snub pressures Iran president  —  Internal pressure on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran to abandon his confrontational policies with the West has intensified after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country's supreme spiritual leader, snubbed a request for a meeting on the country's controversial nuclear programme.

China's Hu vows to "purify" Internet  —  BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese Communist Party chief Hu Jintao has vowed to "purify" the Internet, state media reported on Wednesday, describing a top-level meeting that discussed ways to master the country's sprawling, unruly online population.

2 election workers convicted of rigging '04 presidential recount  —  CLEVELAND (AP) — Two election workers in the state's most populous county were convicted Wednesday of illegally rigging the 2004 presidential election recount so they could avoid a more thorough review of the votes.

Operation Baghdad — A Special Report from the Streets of the City  —  by Mohammed Fadhil , PJM Editor and Special Correspondent, Baghdad  —  Apache attack helicopters are constantly hovering over Baghdad now.  Tracking them from my home in this city I can often estimate where the action is taking place.