Top Items:
Associated Press:
Hamas leaders arrested; Israeli executed — GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israeli forces rounded up dozens of Palestinian Cabinet ministers and lawmakers from Hamas, increasing pressure on the Islamic militants to release a captured Israeli soldier, and witnesses said tanks moved into northern Gaza …
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CNN.com International, Assorted Babble, All Things Beautiful, BBC, New York Times and Blue Crab Boulevard
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Josef Federman / Associated Press:
Home Fly-By Sends Message to Syrian Leader — Israeli warplanes buzzed the summer residence of Syrian President Bashar Assad early Wednesday, military officials said, in a message aimed at pressuring the Syrian leader to win the release of a captured Israeli soldier.
Associated Press:
'Mashaal is target for assassination' — Justice Minister Haim Ramon said Wednesday that Hamas's Syria-based leader, Khaled Mashaal, is a target for assassination for ordering the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier in the Gaza Strip. — "He is definitely in our sights ... he is a target," Ramon told Army Radio.
Avi Issacharoff / Haaretz:
For first time, Hamas-led government calls for prisoner swap — The Hamas-led Palestinian government on Wednesday called for a prisoner swap with Israel, saying Israel's invasion of Gaza would not secure the release of a captured soldier. — It was the first time the government …
Discussion:
Israel Matzav, Yourish.com, A Blog For All, israpundit.com, Liberty and Justice and PoliBlog
Reuters:
Gaza militants say fired chemical-tipped warhead —Text+GAZA (Reuters) - A spokesman for gunmen in the Gaza Strip said they had fired a rocket tipped with a chemical warhead at Israel early on Thursday. — The Israeli army had no immediate comment on the claim by the spokesman …
Haaretz:
Operation in north Gaza aimed at halting Qassam fire on Sderot
Operation in north Gaza aimed at halting Qassam fire on Sderot
Discussion:
Associated Press, Daily Pundit, Flopping Aces, A Blog For All, Captain's Quarters and ynetnews.com
Associated Press:
Justices Back Most G.O.P. Changes to Texas Districts — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld most of the Texas congressional map engineered by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay but threw out part, saying some of the new boundaries failed to protect minority voting rights.
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Associated Press:
Insurgents offer to halt attacks in Iraq — BAGHDAD, Iraq - Eleven Sunni insurgent groups have offered an immediate halt to all attacks — including those on American troops — if the United States agrees to withdraw foreign forces from Iraq in two years, insurgent and government officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
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David Espo / Associated Press:
Obama: Democrats Must Court Evangelicals — WASHINGTON — Sen. Barack Obama chastised fellow Democrats on Wednesday for failing to "acknowledge the power of faith in the lives of the American people," and said the party must compete for the support of evangelicals and other churchgoing Americans.
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Randy Hall / CNSNews:
Dean: 'We're About to Enter the '60s Again' — (CNSNews.com) - America is about to revisit one of the most turbulent decades in its history, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean told a religious conference in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. "We're about to enter the '60s again …
Dan Froomkin / Washington Post:
A SWIFT Kick in the Head — When asked to back up the White House accusation that a recent New York Times story put American lives at risk by disclosing vital secrets to terrorists, the best press secretary Tony Snow could do yesterday was this: "I am absolutely sure they didn't know about SWIFT."
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Pew Research Center:
Democrats More Eager to Vote, But Unhappy with Party — Gay Marriage, Inheritance Tax Among the Lowest Public Priorities — Summary of Findings — With less than five months to go before Election Day, Democrats hold two distinct advantages in the midterm campaign that they have not enjoyed for some time.
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CNN:
Senator seeks tax on pimps, prostitutes — Grassley: 'It's a no-brainer to have the IRS go after sex traffickers' — NEW YORK (CNN) — Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa is hoping to stamp out the sex trade by taxing pimps and prostitutes, then jailing them when they don't pay.
Discussion:
Simianbrain, Bring it On!, Balloon Juice, The Carpetbagger Report, Right Angle Blog and Hit and Run
James C. Dobson / CNN:
Commentary: Media provides cover for assault on traditional marriage — Editor's note: James C. Dobson is founder and chairman of Focus on the Family Action. He has a Ph.D. in child development and is author of the best-selling book, "Bringing Up Boys." He's currently working on a follow-up, "Bringing Up Girls."
michaelmoore.com:
Must Read — Troops Home Fast — GSFP and Code Pink are sponsoring a hunger strike for peace which begins July 04, called Troops Home Fast Some of us like Dick Gregory and Diane Wilson will be fasting until the troops come home from Iraq, and some, like me, will be fasting for a specified time.
Laurie Kellman / Associated Press:
GOP's New `values Agenda' Item Fails — House Republicans failed Wednesday to advance a bill protecting the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. Only a day earlier, the GOP had placed the measure on its "American Values Agenda" in hopes of bolster the party's prospects in the fall election.
Matt Stoller / MyDD:
On the Net Neutrality Commerce Committee Tie — In terms of the vote, well, we pretty much expected this, though we weren't sure whether we could keep the Dems unified. They held under intense lobbying pressure from the telecoms. I think it's fair to say that we've reversed the momentum on this issue …
Discussion:
Daily Kos, The Original Blog, The Agonist, Democrat Taylor Marsh … and Save the Internet
Eugene Volokh / Opinion Journal:
Money and Speech — Would the Supreme Court uphold a "spending limit" for abortion? — Monday's campaign speech case from the Supreme Court in Randall v. Sorrel, leaves me with little new to say, which is fortunate because I have little time right now to say much about it.
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Dean's World