Top Items:
Washington Post:
Assault on Iraqi Civilians Is Deadliest Since 2003 — A barrage of car bombs, mortar attacks and missiles battered the Shiite Muslim slum of Sadr City on Thursday afternoon, killing around 200 people and injuring as many more in the single deadliest assault on Iraqi civilians since the start of the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.
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New York Times:
Iraq Toll Rises; Shiites Warn of Government Withdrawal — As the death toll from a series of devastating car bombs in a Shiite district here rose today to more than 200, a powerful legislative bloc loyal to firebrand Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr threatened to withdraw from the government …
Steven R. Hurst / Associated Press:
Baghdad attack death toll rises to 202 — BAGHDAD, Iraq - Sunni Muslim insurgents blew up five car bombs and fired mortars into Baghdad's largest Shiite district Thursday, killing at least 202 people and wounding 252 in a dramatic attack that sent the U.S. ambassador racing to meet …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Right Wing Nut House, Shakespeare's Sister, Healing Iraq, Daily Kos, Democrats.com and AMERICAblog
Walter Pincus / Washington Post:
1,000 Iraqis a Day Flee Violence, U.N. Group Finds — Refugees Cite Lack of Security Along With the Growth of Armed Militias and Criminal Gangs — More than 1,000 Iraqis a day are being displaced by the sectarian violence that began on Feb. 22 with the bombing of the Shiite Askariya shrine in Samarra …
Kirk Semple / New York Times:
Sectarian Attack Is Worst in Baghdad Since Invasion
Sectarian Attack Is Worst in Baghdad Since Invasion
Discussion:
THE CUNNING REALIST
BBC:
Radiation found after spy's death — Police probing the death of Russian ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko have found above-normal levels of radiation at three locations in London. — Mr Litvinenko's death has been linked to the presence of a "major dose" of radioactive polonium-210 in his body.
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Sky News:
Spy 'Poisoned By Radiation' — A large quantity of radiation, probably from a substance called Polonium 210, has been found in the body of dead ex-Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko. — The "major dose" of alpha radiation was detected in his urine, said Government experts, who added that Polonium 210 is only dangerous if ingested.
Jill Lawless / Associated Press:
Radioactive substance in ex-spy's body — LONDON - A former KGB agent turned Kremlin critic who blamed a "barbaric and ruthless" Russian President Vladimir Putin for his fatal poisoning had a toxic radioactive substance in his body, the British government said Friday.
Philip Stephens / libertypost.org:
Title: Democracy falls victim to foreign policy realism
Title: Democracy falls victim to foreign policy realism
Discussion:
The Huffington Post
Patterico / Patterico's Pontifications:
Is the L.A. Times Repeating Enemy Propaganda? Or Is There Another Reason The Paper Is Getting Basic Facts Wrong and Failing to Report the Military's Side? — Is the L.A. Times reporting unconfirmed enemy propaganda from an Iraqi stringer with ties to the insurgency?
Discussion:
Power Line, Captain's Quarters, Wake up America, Winds of Change.NET, Hot Air and Ace of Spades HQ
David Johnston / New York Times:
Senate Democrats Revive Demand for Classified Data — Seeking information about detention of terrorism suspects, abuse of detainees and government secrecy, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are reviving dozens of demands for classified documents that until now have been rebuffed …
Discussion:
Andrew Sullivan, The Carpetbagger Report, Prairie Weather, PBD, TPMmuckraker, The Heretik and The Democratic Daily
Robert Pear / New York Times:
Drug Industry Is on Defensive as Power Shifts — Alarmed at the prospect of Democratic control of Congress, top executives from two dozen drug companies met here last week to assess what appears to them to be a harsh new political climate, and to draft a battle plan.
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E. J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:
An Electronic Canary — Americans can be grateful that Sarasota County is in Florida and not in Montana or Virginia. — There's nothing wrong with Sarasota, a lovely place. But if the voting snafus in the contest for Florida's 13th District had hung up either of this year's two closest Senate races …
Agence France Presse:
Russian rocket deliveries to Iran started — Russia has begun deliveries of the Tor-M1 air defence rocket system to Iran, Russian news agencies quoted military industry sources as saying, in the latest sign of a Russian-US rift over Iran. — "Deliveries of the Tor-M1 have begun.
Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
Just an Anti-Semitic Laugh? Hardly. — "Borat" is many things: a sidesplitting triumph of slapstick and scatology, a runaway moneymaker and budding franchise, the worst thing to happen to Kazakhstan since the Mongol hordes, and, as columnist David Brooks astutely points out …
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias, Wake up America, Blue Crab Boulevard, Done With Mirrors, Atlas Shrugs, toohotfortnr and Secular Blasphemy
Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:
Empty Seats Defy The Realists — In the last few months, many in the US have been urging the Bush administration to open direct talks with Syria and Iran on security issues in Iraq, among other issues. They have stated that we have to engage with Syria in order to stabilize Lebanon as well as Iraq.
Discussion:
Outside The Beltway
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John Podhoretz / New York Post:
DOUBLE THUMP — GOP WOES DEEPENING — PRESIDENT Bush contributed a new word to the political lexicon when he called the GOP defeat on Election Day a "thumpin'." Now, two weeks after the election, the full nature of the "thumpin' " is coming through pretty clearly …
Discussion:
Captain's Quarters
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Agence France Presse:
Policeman kills PSG fan in post-match racist violence — A French police officer — a black man in plain clothes — shot dead a Paris-Saint Germain football fan after being turned on by a mob during racist violence that followed the team's defeat by Israeli side Hapoel Tel-Aviv.