Centre-left claims Italy victory  —  Italy's centre-left opposition has won a narrow victory in the lower house of parliament, official results say.  —  It won 49.8% of the vote against 49.7% for the centre-right, according to interior ministry figures.  —  The head of the centre-left coalition …

Lawyer: No DNA Match in Duke Gang Rape Case  —  DURHAM, N.C. — DNA testing failed to connect any members of the Duke University lacrosse team to the alleged rape of a stripper, attorneys for the athletes said Monday.  —  Citing DNA test results delivered by the state crime lab to police …

Wowie Zahawie  —  Sorry everyone, but Iraq did go uranium shopping in Niger.  —  In the late 1980s, the Iraqi representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency—Iraq's senior public envoy for nuclear matters, in effect—was a man named Wissam al-Zahawie.

Immigration Advocates Rally Across U.S.  —  Crowds of immigrants and their supporters predicted to total in the hundreds of thousands marched today in more than 100 cities throughout the country, casting off the old fears of their illegal status to assert that they have a right to a humane life in this country.

France to scrap youth jobs law  —  PARIS, France (CNN) — The French government has scrapped a controversial youth job law, bowing to weeks of million-strong protests with a change of heart likely to further undermine the image of the country's embattled Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin.

Phone-Jamming Records Point to White House  —  WASHINGTON - Key figures in a phone-jamming scheme designed to keep New Hampshire Democrats from voting in 2002 had regular contact with the White House and Republican Party as the plan was unfolding, phone records introduced in criminal court show.

Annex Mexico?  —  One difference between the demonstrations in France and the demonstrations in America: The French are demonstrating for the right not to work hard, while the demonstrators in America mostly want to work.  —  And most of them, I think, really want that.

U.S. Envoy to Iraq Says Talks With Iran Delayed  —  Khalilzad Fears Appearance of Collusion  —  BAGHDAD, April 9 — With politicians deadlocked over who will be Iraq's next prime minister, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said Sunday that planned talks with Iranian officials over Iraq-related issues …

It's that Time of the Month  —  It's time for me to do my update on Iraq based on the Iraq Index from the Brookings Report.  I was on vacation last week, so its one week late.  —  First off, US soldiers killed in Iraq continues to fall.  This is the 5th straight month:

Three Strikes and You're ... in Like Flint  —  American and British criminologists have long been puzzled and angered by the fact that Britain seems to have learnt nothing from the experience of New York in successfully reducing crime.  —  The big drop in virtually all types of crime …

Murray Waas Is the Woodward of Now  —  It should be obvious from the work who the Woodward of Now is.  And if it isn't Greg Sargent can explain things to you over at the American Prospect.  —  The guy's name is Murray Waas; he's an independent journalist who recently went to work …

Immigrants Rally in Scores of Cities for Legal Status  —  WASHINGTON, April 10 — Waving American flags and blue banners that read "We Are America," throngs of cheering, chanting immigrants and their supporters converged on the nation's capital and in scores of other cities on Monday calling …