Top Items:
Qassim Abdul-Zahra / Associated Press:
Court: Execute Saddam Within 30 Days — Iraq's highest appeals court on Tuesday upheld Saddam Hussein's death sentence and said he must be hanged within 30 days for the killing of 148 Shiites in the central city of Dujail. — The sentence "must be implemented within 30 days," chief judge Aref Shahin said.
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Nancy Trejos / Washington Post:
Court Upholds Saddam's Death Sentence — An Iraqi appeals court on Tuesday upheld a ruling to execute deposed leader Saddam Hussein for crimes against humanity and said he could hang within 30 days. — "From tomorrow, any day could be the day of implementation," chief judge Aref Abdul-Razzaq al-Shahin …
Jeffrey Gettleman / New York Times:
Islamist Forces in Somalia Are on the Retreat — Islamist forces in Somalia beat a hasty retreat today to their stronghold in Mogadishu, Somalia's battle-scared capital, crumbling faster than anyone expected after a week of attacks by Ethiopian forces. — Burhakaba, a large inland city …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Riehl World View, Wake up America, toohotfortnr, In the Bullpen and Matthew Yglesias
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International Herald Tribune:
In Somalia, a reckless U.S. proxy war — NAIROBI: Undeterred by the horrors and setbacks in Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon, the Bush administration has opened another battlefront in the Muslim world. With full U.S. backing and military training, at least 15,000 Ethiopian troops have entered Somalia …
Michael van der Galien / The Moderate Voice:
Brave Islamists Withdrawing
Brave Islamists Withdrawing
Discussion:
Captain's Quarters
Christopher Torchia / Associated Press:
U.S. toll in Iraq surpasses that of 9/11 — BAGHDAD, Iraq - At least 36 Iraqis died Tuesday in bombings, officials said, including a coordinated strike that killed 25 in western Baghdad. Separately, the deaths of six U.S. soldiers pushed the American toll beyond the number of victims in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
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Associated Press:
Military Deaths in Iraq Exceed 9 / 11 Toll — NEW YORK (AP) — In a span of a few hours, 2,973 people were killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In a span of 45 months, the number of American troops killed in Iraq exceeded that grim toll as the war continues.
Julie Hirschfeld Davis / Baltimore Sun:
Bush is bracing for new scrutiny … WASHINGTON // President Bush is bracing for what could be an onslaught of investigations by the new Democratic-led Congress by hiring lawyers to fill key White House posts and preparing to play defense on countless document requests and possible subpoenas.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, DownWithTyranny!, Booman Tribune, The Carpetbagger Report and Political Animal
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Ezra Klein / Los Angeles Times:
Going universal — The American healthcare system is, simply put, a mess, but we may finally be ready to fix it. — THE STATISTICS, by now, are well known. Forty-seven million uninsured Americans. Premium increases of 81% since 2000. Small businesses failing, big businesses foundering …
David Lightman / Hartford Courant:
Lieberman Defends Video-Game Money — WASHINGTON — It has become a holiday ritual: Joe Lieberman and family-research officials hold a well-attended press conference to decry the impact on children of excessive video game sex and violence. — And, again in 2006, Lieberman indulged …
Bryan Bender / Boston Globe:
Military considers recruiting foreigners — Expedited citizenship would be an incentive — An Armed Forces center in Plymouth. US officials are trying tactics to find recruits; one involves attracting noncitizens. (JULIA CUMES/ASSOCIATED PRESS) — WASHINGTON — The armed forces …
Katharine Q. Seelye / New York Times:
Flash! President Bush Says He Reads Papers — Is there hope for newspapers after all? Readers may be abandoning the printed versions, but over the last couple of years, at least one person seems to have started reading them, at least sometimes. He lives in the White House.
Discussion:
Shakespeare's Sister, Political Animal, The Heretik, DownWithTyranny!, Redstate, Liberal Values and Liberty Street
Rachel L. Swarns / New York Times:
Bipartisan Effort to Draft Immigration Bill — Counting on the support of the new Democratic majority in Congress, Democratic lawmakers and their Republican allies are working on measures that could place millions of illegal immigrants on a more direct path to citizenship than would a bill that the Senate passed in the spring.
Nick / Blogborygmi:
Grand Rounds 3.14 — Welcome to Grand Rounds, the collection of the best posts in medical blogging! — Grand Rounds has come a long way since the last time it was hosted here. By my count, eighty-nine unique bloggers have hosted 118 editions. This includes doctors, nurses, students …
David D. Kirkpatrick / New York Times:
Consultant Helps Democrats Embrace Faith, and Some in Party Are Not Pleased — As Democrats turn toward the 2008 presidential race, a novice evangelical political operative is emerging as a rising star in the party, drawing both applause and alarm for her courtship of theological conservatives in the midterm elections.