memeorandum: Obama rivals Clinton in fundraising (Nedra Pickler/Associated Press)

1:25 PM ET, April 4, 2007

Top Items:

Iran president to free UK sailors … TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has pardoned 15 British military personnel being held in Iranian custody and vowed to set them free shortly. — "I declare that the people of Iran and the government of Iran …

Discussion: Michael P.F. van der Galiën, NewsHog, Dr. Sanity, Political Animal, PrairiePundit, AfterDowningStreet.org, The Mahablog, Shakesville, Macsmind, My Two Sense and Blue Girl, Red State

Sky News:

Iran To Free UK Captives — Iran is to free the 15 UK sailors and marines taken captive in the Shatt al Arab waterway as a "gift" to Britain. — President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the group would be released promptly and handed over to the British embassy in Tehran.

Discussion: PoliPundit.com and Daimnation!

Nasser Karimi / Associated Press:

Iranian leader says he'll free Britons — TEHRAN, Iran - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran would free the 15 detained British sailors and marines Wednesday as an Easter holiday "gift" to the British people. — He said the captives, who were seized while on patrol in the northern Persian Gulf …

Discussion: The Jawa Report, In From the Cold, Power Line, Counterterrorism Blog and All Spin Zone

Howard Schneider / Washington Post:

Iranian Leader Says He Will Free Britons — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today said he had "pardoned" 15 British sailors and marines seized by the Iranian military two weeks ago and would free them to be with their families. — Ending a diplomatic crisis with a bit of political theater …

Discussion: Obsidian Wings, The Corner, PoliPundit.com and State of the Day

Roger Kimball / Armavirumque:

A gift? — OK, we are told not "to look a gift horse in the mouth": someone gives you a present, you don't start investigating the state of its dentition to estimate is worth. So I suppose we should be simply rejoice that Iranisn President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has decided to release …

Discussion: Austin Bay Blog

MSNBC:
Iran to free seized British sailors

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Sister Toldjah and Middle Earth Journal

Fox News:
AHMADINEJAD SAYS BRITISH TROOPS WILL BE FREED

Discussion: Redstate and Balloon Juice

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
Iran 'Pardons' Captured British Sailors, Marines

Discussion: In From the Cold, Right Wing Nut House and AfterDowningStreet.org

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Breaking: Ahmadinejad says British sailors will be released …

Discussion: protein wisdom, On Deadline, Wizbang, PoliBlog (TM) and Secular Blasphemy

Associated Press: Report: Envoy to meet detained Iranians

Nedra Pickler / Associated Press:

Obama rivals Clinton in fundraising — DAVENPORT, Iowa - Democrat Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) raked in $25 million for his presidential bid in the first three months of 2007, placing him on a par with front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton and dashing her image as the party's inevitable nominee.

Discussion: MyDD, The Democratic Daily, Hot Air, Cliff Schecter and The Mahablog

Chicago Tribune:

Obama fundraising rivals Clinton — Sen. Barack Obama raised at least $25 million dollars during the first quarter for his presidential campaign, a total surprisingly close to the $26 million collected by his chief rival for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Michael P.F. van der Galiën, Sirotablog, TalkLeft, TIME, workingforchange.com …, Cliff Schecter and Left in the West

Anne E. Kornblut / Washington Post:

Obama Raises $25M for Presidential Campaign — Sen. Barack Obama raised at least $25 million for his presidential campaign in the first quarter of the year, putting him just shy of Sen. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner, who made a splash with her announcement Sunday that she had drawn a record-breaking $26 million.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Daily Kos, The Daily Dish, Obsidian Wings, BlueOregon and Oliver Willis

Mike Allen / The Politico:
Chastened McCain Relaunches Campaign

Discussion: New York Times, Hotline On Call, TIME, CNN Political Ticker, Donklephant, Think Progress, Balloon Juice, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, The Influence Peddler, Kiko's House and Wonkette

Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:

Bush Blames Democrats for Impasse Over Iraq Bills — The political brinkmanship over Iraq war spending intensified Tuesday, as President Bush said Congressional Democrats had "undercut the troops" by passing legislation that ties continued war financing to mandated timelines for the withdrawal of American combat units.

Discussion: Firedoglake, DownWithTyranny!, Brendan Nyhan, Connecting.the.Dots, Political Radar, Don Surber and Shakesville

Peter Baker / Washington Post:
For Bush, Fighting Democrats And Doubts

Discussion: TAPPED and Prairie Weather

New York Times:
More Than a Feeling — President Bush and his advisers …

Discussion: Tennessee Guerilla Women

Rick Maze / Military Times HOME:

No more GWOT, House committee decrees — The House Armed Services Committee is banishing the global war on terror from the 2008 defense budget. — This is not because the war has been won, lost or even called off, but because the committee's Democratic leadership doesn't like the phrase.

Discussion: Redstate, The Swamp, Sister Toldjah, Don Surber, Outside The Beltway, Hot Air, The Strata-Sphere, Confederate Yankee, Jihad Watch, PrairiePundit, Clayton Cramer's BLOG and PoliPundit.com

Washington Post:

Students Lie in Front of Car, Delay Rove After Speech — Heckling protesters briefly delayed the car carrying top White House aide Karl Rove last night as he left the American University campus, where he had just given a speech. No arrests or injuries were reported after Rove's invitation-only talk.

Discussion: Booman Tribune, Shakesville and First Draft

NBC4:
Students Pelt Karl Rove In Protest

Discussion: Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, Confederate Yankee, All Spin Zone, PrairiePundit, The Jawa Report, The Democratic Daily and On Deadline

Khaled Yacoub Oweis / Reuters:

Pelosi conveys Israeli peace message to Syria — U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, on a visit to Syria opposed by the White House, said on Wednesday she conveyed an Israeli message to President Bashar al-Assad that the Jewish state was ready to resume peace talks.

Media Matters for America:
CNN reported on Pelosi's "bad trip" to Syria

Discussion: The RBC, Matthew Yglesias and Pacific Views

Toby Harnden / Telegraph:

Briton 'could stage another September 11' — Interview: America's new homeland security chief tells Toby Harnden of his fears of 'clean skin' terrorists — The United States fears that the next September 11-style attack on America could be launched by Muslims from Britain or Europe who feel …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Captain's Quarters, Shakesville and PrairiePundit

Michael Roston / The Raw Story:

Blogs accuse CNN reporter of disrupting McCain press conference again — A group of conservative political weblogs offered new evidence in continuation of their allegation that CNN reporter Michael Ware disrupted a Sunday press conference in Baghdad with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and other Congress members.

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Jules Crittenden, Redstate, Power Line, The Right Angle, AMERICAblog, Say Anything, Majikthise, NewsHog and INSTAPUTZ

Kurt Loder / MTV:

Did Keith Richards Really Snort His Dad's Ashes? No — It Was A Joke! — Comments made in magazine interview were only 'said in jest,' manager tells MTV News. — Maybe you saw that Keith Richards item that started popping up all over the place on Tuesday (April 3) …

Discussion: Telegraph, TMZ.com and The American Mind