Italian nun shot dead by Somali gunmen  —  MOGADISHU, Somalia - An Italian nun was shot dead at a hospital by Somali gunmen Sunday, hours after a leading Muslim cleric condemned Pope Benedict XVI for his remarks on Islam and violence.  —  The nun, who was not immediately identified …

U.S., Afghan troops launch offensive  —  KABUL, Afghanistan — Thousands of American and Afghan troops unleashed a new offensive against Taliban militants in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday in an effort to expand the government's reach into the volatile Pakistani border region.

Report: AQ warns Muslims to leave NYC, Washington  —  The worry meter remains at midlevel, but I'm obliged to follow up on that earlier post.  Via Bama Pachyderm via Gateway Pundit via World Net Daily, Pakistani journalist Hamir Mir says the end is nigh: … Let's wait and see about that audio message.

Liveblogging Meet the Press  —  The Allen/Webb Meet the Press debate begins momentarily.  I'll be liveblogging it here, with time-stamped updates to include information and analysis.  More as it happens.  —  PREDICTION: Senator Allen will discuss his positions on issues like the economy …

Called From Diplomatic Reserve  —  Former Secretary of State Leads Attempt to Salvage Iraq Mission  —  Is Jim Baker bailing out the Bushes once again?  —  The former secretary of state, James A. Baker III, a confidant of President George H.W. Bush, visited Baghdad two weeks ago to take a look …

U.S. war prisons legal vacuum for 14,000  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq - In the few short years since the first shackled Afghan shuffled off to Guantanamo, the U.S. military has created a global network of overseas prisons, its islands of high security keeping 14,000 detainees beyond the reach of established law.

The AP's Switcheroo  —  Here's an email we received yesterday morning at 10:26 am: … The emailer is right that if you look at the AP headline now, it reads "Poll Shows GOP Not Making Its Case:"  —  Since I was the one who published the AP story yesterday and was 100% sure that I copied …

How the Presidency Regained Its Balance  —  FIVE years after 9/11, President Bush has taken his counterterrorism case to the American people.  That's because he has had to.  This summer, a plurality of the Supreme Court found, in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, that Congress must explicitly approve military commissions …

A liberal hawk strikes back  —  THE CIRCULAR firing squad is the signature practice of the Democratic Party.  Think of 1968, or 1972, or everything that happened during the Clinton presidency except impeachment, or the Howard Dean campaign.  Democrats are never truly happy unless they're at each others' throats.

U.S. holds AP photographer in Iraq 5 mos  —  The U.S. military in Iraq has imprisoned an Associated Press photographer for five months, accusing him of being a security threat but never filing charges or permitting a public hearing.  —  Military officials said Bilal Hussein, an Iraqi citizen …

FDL Book Salon Welcomes Arianna Huffington  —  (Arianna Huffington will be joining us in the comments today to discuss her book, On Becoming Fearless.  Week One of the discussion can be found here .  As always with the Book Salon, please restrict your comments to the topic at hand and if you'd like to discuss.)

Pessimistic Germans Losing Faith in Democracy, Study Shows  —  A recent report confirms the stereotype of Germany as a nation of pessimists.  Increasingly, citizens are discontent with their living standards, and their form of government as well.  —  According to a new report put …

Muslims read riot act  —  AUSTRALIA'S Muslim leaders have been "read the riot act" over the need to denounce any links between Islam and terrorism.  —  The Howard Government's multicultural spokesman, Andrew Robb, yesterday told an audience of 100 imams who address Australia's mosques …

Swedish Opposition Wins Election, Exit Polls Show (Update3)  —  Sept. 17 (Bloomberg) — Sweden's four-party opposition ousted Prime Minister Goeran Persson's Social Democrats after 12 years in power as voters backed their plans to cut taxes to make it easier for companies to hire and sell off state assets, exit polls indicated.