memeorandum: The Birth of the 'Breck Girl' Story Line (Adam Nagourney/New York Times)

Suicide blast kills 9 U.S. soldiers — Attack in Diyala province comes same day 5 other explosions kill 46 — Demonstrators in Baghdad's Adhamiya district protest Monday against the construction of concrete walls in the area. — NBC video — Walling off neighborhoods

Discussion: Daily Kos and Cliff Schecter

Hamid Ahmed / Associated Press:

Iraq: 9 U.S. soldiers killed by car bomb — BAGHDAD - In one of the deadliest attacks on American ground forces since the Iraq war started more than four years ago, a suicide car bomber struck a patrol base northeast of Baghdad and killed nine U.S. soldiers and wounded 20, officials said.

Discussion: NO QUARTER and Cliff Schecter

Karin Brulliard / Washington Post:

Iraq Blast Kills 9 GIs, Injures 20 At Outpost — Suicide Attack in Diyala Among Deadliest of War — A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-rigged truck into a U.S. military outpost near Baqubah on Monday, killing nine soldiers and wounding 20 in one of the deadliest single ground attacks …

Discussion: TalkLeft and First Draft

Rusty / The Jawa Report:
There is no al Qaeda - Iraq Connection

Discussion: Jules Crittenden, Hot Air and Washington Post

Clyde Haberman / New York Times:

David Halberstam, 73, War Reporter and Author, Is Killed in a Car Crash — David Halberstam, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and tireless author of books on topics as varied as America's military failings in Vietnam, the deaths of firefighters at the World Trade Center and the high-pressure world …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Kiko's House

San Francisco Chronicle:

Author David Halberstam killed in Menlo Park crash — (04-23) 19:24 PDT MENLO PARK — Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Halberstam was killed today doing what he had done for more than four decades: chasing down a great story. — Halberstam, 73, died in a car wreck just a few miles away …

Discussion: On Deadline, ProgressiveHistorians and skippy the bush kangaroo

Connie Skipitares / Mercury News:

Author David Halberstam killed in crash near Dumbarton Bridge — Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author David Halberstam was killed in a three-car accident this morning in Menlo Park near the Dumbarton Bridge, the San Mateo County Coroner's Office announced.

Discussion: Power Line, Scott Rosenberg's Wordyard, Romenesko and Michael P.F. van der Galiën

Lisa Leff / Associated Press: Author David Halberstam dies in crash

my.barackobama.com:

Remarks of Senator Barack Obama to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs — Good morning. We all know that these are not the best of times for America's reputation in the world. We know what the war in Iraq has cost us in lives and treasure, in influence and respect.

Discussion: Brian Beutler and Matthew Yglesias

Kevin Drum / Political Animal:

OBAMA'S SPEECH....Barack Obama gave his big foreign policy speech today. "There are five ways America will begin to lead again when I'm President," he said. Here they are: — Get out of Iraq (but responsibly!) — Increase the size of the Army and Marines by 92,000 soldiers and teach 'em some Arabic.

Discussion: The RBC

Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:
Obama Outlines His Foreign Policy Views

Discussion: The Huffington Post, MyDD, The Daily Dish and The Washington Note

New York Times:

At Least the Boss Was Satisfied by Gonzales's Answers — President Bush said Monday that the Congressional testimony of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales last week, roundly panned by members of both parties, had "increased my confidence in his ability to do the job."

Discussion: The Next Hurrah and Matthew Yglesias

Liz Sidoti / Associated Press: Huckabee calls Gonzales a distraction

John Bresnahan / The Politico: McNulty to be interviewed by Senate Judiciary Committee

BBC:

Crow calls for limit on loo paper — Singer Sheryl Crow has said a ban on using too much toilet paper should be introduced to help the environment. — Crow has suggested using "only one square per restroom visit, except, of course, on those pesky occasions where two to three could be required".

Discussion: Betsy's Page, Right Wing Nut House, Outside The Beltway, Instapundit.com, Hyscience, The Right Angle and Pajamas Media

Watertiger / Dependable Renegade:

The Manhattan Project. — Carmela returns: — Meet Ann Altmouse: — Special thanks to dan at A Blog Named Sue for his camera and editing. You rule, Dan.

Thers / Whiskey Fire: Altmouse Files — Ann Altmouse has asked me to post her first vlog …

Marilyn Berger / New York Times:

Boris Yeltsin, Russia's First Post-Soviet Leader, Is Dead — Boris N. Yeltsin, the burly provincial politician who became the first freely elected leader of Russia and a towering figure of his time when he presided over the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the demise of the Communist Party …

Discussion: The Daily Dish, NION, Crunchy Con, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Washington Post, TAPPED and Daimnation!

Michael McCarthy / The Independent:

An island made by global warming — The map of Greenland will have to be redrawn. A new island has appeared off its coast, suddenly separated from the mainland by the melting of Greenland's enormous ice sheet, a development that is being seen as the most alarming sign of global warming.

Discussion: Riehl World View

Anita Kumar / St. Petersburg Times:

FBI asks Tom Feeney about trip with Abramoff … WASHINGTON - The FBI has asked U.S. Rep. Tom Feeney for information about his dealings with Jack Abramoff as part of its ongoing investigation into the lobbyist convicted of defrauding clients. — FBI agent Kevin Luebke refused to say whether Feeney …

Discussion: The BRAD BLOG, MyDD and Think Progress

Alexander Mooney / CNN Political Ticker:

Bush Sr.: 'Bush fatigue' may be setting in — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Former President George Bush told CNN's Larry King Monday that the electorate may be experiencing "Bush fatigue." — And it may be the reason his son, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, is sitting out the 2008 presidential election, the 41st president said.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, The Carpetbagger Report, The Left End of the Dial v2.0 and CorrenteWire

Richard Cohen / Washington Post:

Why Boycott Israel? — In Iran, the government overturned the convictions of six men who, among other things, killed a young couple because they were walking together in public. In China, local authorities seized about 60 women and forcibly aborted their pregnancies.

Discussion: Betsy's Page