Iraqi official: Al-Qaida in Iraq leader wounded  —  Al-Masri reportedly hurt, in custody; aide slain in skirmish north of Baghdad  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq - The leader of al-Qaida in Iraq was wounded and an aide was killed in a clash Thursday with Iraqi forces north of Baghdad, the Interior Ministry spokesman said.

Reid Schedules Saturday Vote on House's Iraq Resolution  —  Senate Democratic leaders abruptly switched course in the Iraq war debate today, shelving a complicated non-binding resolution that has run into procedural hurdles, in favor of a House version that simply states Congress's objections to President Bush's troop escalation plan.

What's on the table?  —  A lot of commentary in the blogosphere today, especially from Matt Yglesias and Ezra Klein about whether "all options" should be "on the table" in dealing with Iran.  —  I was (correctly) hammered last year when I said on Stephanopoulos that "all options …

Giuliani Says He Is Running for President in '08  —  Rudolph W. Giuliani yesterday removed any lingering doubts that he was running for president, and, without mentioning President Bush by name, offered pointed criticism on how the Iraq war has been handled.

Libertarians in America  —  Free to choose, and a good thing too.  —  Scores of books have been written on the role of communists and socialists in the U.S., dour chronicles of welcome failure.  But very few writers have devoted much attention to the role of libertarians …

Rudy's New Social Conservatism  —  Pundits of all political persuasions have been chattering about whether Rudy Giuliani, whose name is invariably modified by the description "social liberal," can overcome the objections of many religious conservatives to win the Republican nomination.

Keith Olbermann, NBC agree on second term  —  'Countdown' host extends through 2011; will contribute more to network  —  MSNBC is a joint venture between NBC and Microsoft  —  NEW YORK - Keith Olbermann will continue to be a thorn in Bill O'Reilly's side for at least four more years.

Auditors: Billions squandered in Iraq  —  WASHINGTON - The U.S. government has squandered as much as $10 billion in public money on Iraq reconstruction aid because of overcharges and unsubstantiated expenses.  More is yet to come, federal investigators said Thursday.

Where the Stars Hide Their Money  —  Come Visit Your Money, Stay for the Heineken Tour — the Netherlands Is the Latest Tax Shelter Hot Spot  —  U2, the Rolling Stones, movie stars, sports figures and a host of corporations have turned to an unlikely accountant, the Netherlands …

Chavez threat to seize food shops  —  Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has threatened to nationalise stores that sell meat above a government-set price.  —  The government says supermarkets have been artificially boosting prices of basic foods by manipulating stockpiles.

CNN: White House Now Blames Briefer For Going Too Far On Iran Intel  —  Last Sunday, the Bush administration finally presented its long-delayed intelligence briefing on Iranian arms shipments into Iraq.  Prior to the presentation, a U.S. official told the New York Times that it had been delayed …

FDL's Libby reporting forces a re-evaluation of blogs  —  It is virtually impossible to closely follow the Libby trial without relying upon the work of the blogging team assembled by Jane Hamsher and FireDogLake.  Hamsher built FDL by becoming (along with her blogging partner …

Quest to Heal Iraqi Boy Became a Final Mission  —  HILLA, Iraq — Hours before getting killed the way he feared most, Capt. Brian S. Freeman looked up and smiled when Abu Ali dropped by his office.  —  After nearly six months of overcoming financial and bureaucratic hurdles in a war zone …

Deseret Morning News hits "ultraconservative" websites for suggesting Salt Lake shooting was jihad-motivated  —  In "Vitriolic e-mails zero in on 'Muslim,'" Elaine Jarvik and Deborah Bulkeley in the Deseret Morning News (thanks to all who sent this in) do not deign to consider the possibility …

Operation Baghdad Update.  —  After being technically in progress for about over a week, Operation Imposing the Law officially started yesterday.  —  Al-Maliki who's been on a tour in the mid-southern region announced the beginning of the operation from Kerbala.