Lebanon About To Fall  —  The cease-fire agreement appears to have created a crisis in Lebanon's government, as a Cabinet meeting of Siniora's government has been abruptly cancelled.  The Cabinet was supposed to vote on a plan to deploy their army into southern Lebanon and to displace Hezbollah.

Demeaning Democracy  —  Cheney Paints Lamont Victory As Helping Terrorists  —  Vice presidents are notorious for serving as an administration's chief attack dog, and time and again Dick Cheney has been unleashed to accuse anyone who is opposed to the Bush administration of aiding the terrorists.

Backlash: Al-Guardian(!) tells British Muslims to get it together (Correction: The Observer, not the Guardian) (Update: Home Secretary blasts Muslim leaders)  —  I was going to make the Times of London's lead editorial the must-read of the day — until I saw this.

Bottle and baby used as bomb  —  Font size:  —  A HUSBAND and wife arrested in the British terror raids allegedly planned to take their six-month-old baby on a mid-air suicide mission.  —  Scotland Yard police are quizzing Abdula Ahmed Ali, 25, and his 23-year-old wife Cossor over suspicions …

WATCHING LEBANON  —  In the days after Hezbollah crossed from Lebanon into Israel, on July 12th, to kidnap two soldiers, triggering an Israeli air attack on Lebanon and a full-scale war, the Bush Administration seemed strangely passive.  "It's a moment of clarification," …

Transcript for Aug. 13  —  MR. DAVID GREGORY: Our issues this Sunday: the threat of terror.  Nearly five years after the September 11 attacks, a chilling new plot: terrorists planning to blow up airplanes bound for the U.S.  —  (Videotape):  —  SEC'Y MICHAEL CHERTOFF …

Pan-Islamism challenges idea of nation state  —  Here's how an early report by Reuters covered the massive terrorism bust in the United Kingdom.  They started out conventionally enough just chugging along with airport closures, arrest details and quotes from bystanders, but then got to the big picture:

Polls Shows More Americans Favor Democratic Candidate for Congress  —  A new poll shows an uptick in support for a Democratic candidate in the next Congressional elections.  —  When asked whom they would vote for "if elections for Congress were held today," 45% of U.S. adults said they would vote …

OK.  Let me start off with kudos where kudos are due.  ANSWER hit a home run with this one.  Brian ... you're the man.  —  Ironically, it took a bunch of hyper-religious Muslims and anti-Semites with a message that they (the anti-Semites) just needed to share to pull their (ANSWER's) …

Iranian president lambasts US on new blog  —  TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's president has launched a Web log, using his first entry to recount his poor upbringing and ask visitors to the site if they think the United States and Israel want to start a new world war.

"Not dead, just dying" says Castro  —  *** scroll down for updates *** Fidel is not holding a newspaper, he is holding a proof copy.  —  On this 80th birthday of Fidel Castro, Juventud Rebelde, the Cuban periodical for communist youth, published four new photos of the dictator.