To Save a Revolution  —  You could sense the hurt and anger as Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora pleaded this week to the U.S. ambassador and other diplomats in Beirut for a halt to Israeli attacks on Lebanese targets.  "The country has been torn to shreds," he said.  "I hope you will not let us down."

Exiled Bakri in SOS plea  —  EXILED preacher of hate Omar Bakri has begged the Royal Navy to rescue him from war-torn Beirut.  —  The Muslim cleric who fled Britain last year, tried to board a ship full of women and children yesterday but was turned away.  —  He also wrote to the British …

Two N.J. Casinos Sued Schlesinger Over Debts  —  When Alan Schlesinger gave a fake name while playing blackjack at Foxwoods in the early 1990s, he had already been sued over a gambling debt by one Atlantic City casino and was on the way to racking up an even bigger debt that led to a second lawsuit.

In Mideast Strife, Bush Sees a Step To Peace  —  President Bush's unwillingness to pressure Israel to halt its military campaign in Lebanon is rooted in a view of the Middle East conflict that is sharply different from that of his predecessors.  —  When hostilities have broken out in the past …

Message: I Respect  —  THE PRESIDENT ACES HIS NAACP SPEECH.  —  Listen to John Dickerson's latest Political Gabfest program here, or sign up for Slate's free daily podcast on iTunes.  —  Condi Rice hasn't left for the Middle East yet, perhaps because the president wanted to send her into combat here at home.

A Secret the Media Kept  —  Toward the end of 1979, hundreds of American and Canadian journalists and news organizations got hold of a dynamite news story that would have made personal reputations and careers and sent circulation or broadcast ratings soaring.  The facts were confirmed, unassailably.

Top-Secret World Loses Blogger  —  CIA Contractor Is Fired When Internal Post Crosses the Line  —  Christine Axsmith, a software contractor for the CIA, considered her blog a success within the select circle of people who could actually access it.  —  Only people with top-secret security clearances …

Third time's not the charm: Sunday-morning talk shows still imbalanced … On February 14, Media Matters for America released a comprehensive study analyzing the guest appearances on ABC's This Week, CBS' Face the Nation, and NBC's Meet the Press from 1997 through 2005.

Shaken and Stirred  —  The US invasion of Iraq has so shaken and stirred the Middle East that some exceptionally strange things are happening.  More importantly, these things unequivocally favor the US in influencing the outcome of the Israeli-Hezbollah War now taking place in Lebanon.

Despite Ties to Hamas, Militants Aren't Following Political Leaders  —  JABALIYA REFUGEE CAMP, Gaza, July 20 — Five men in black hoods emerged from a dimly lighted street of stark concrete houses and garbage-strewn lots.  With Israeli drones buzzing overhead, they kept the meeting short.

First arrests in Mumbai bombings  —  Police in India have arrested three men in connection with a series of bombings that killed more than 180 people in the city of Mumbai (Bombay) last week.  —  The police have detained more than 300 suspects but these are the first arrests in the case.

Israel calls up troops, warns Lebanese  —  BEIRUT, Lebanon - Israel called up reserve troops Friday and warned civilians to flee Hezbollah-controlled southern Lebanon, as it prepared for a likely ground invasion to set up a deep buffer zone.  —  Hezbollah militants fired at least 11 rockets …