Kosovo Declares Its Independence From Serbia  —  PRISTINA, Kosovo — The former Serbian province of Kosovo declared independence on Sunday, sending tens of thousands of ethnic Albanians swarming through the streets to celebrate what they hoped was the end of a long and bloody struggle for national self-determination.

Clinton Wants A Wisconsin Debate As Obama Adds The Beef  —  Hillary Clinton desperately wants to get Barack Obama in a one-on-one debate before the Wisconsin primary in order to pin her challenger to policy specifics.  Obama, meanwhile, has dodged the debate but gotten the message, according to the New York Times:

The Fun and Excitement of Civilization Wars (fought from afar)  —  In response to my post on Friday pointing out that nobody outside of the handful of Muslim-obsessed faux-warriors is moved any longer by the Government's endless exploitation of Terrorism to secure more and more unchecked power, National Review's Mark Steyn said:

Barack Obama, Leftist?  —  Two foreign newspapers introduce the notion of Barack Obama as a Leftist.  The Times of London reports that Republicans intend on painting him as such in the general election, based on his voting record in the Senate and in the Illinios state legislature.

Steadfast McCain ally sparks veep talk  —  Even through the McCain campaign's darkest days in 2007, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty remained a steadfast ally to the Arizona senator in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination.  —  As a result, with John McCain as the clear GOP frontrunner …

“That Root,” “youths,” and why Reuters is a disgrace  —  In “Portrait of an Age,” G. M. Young's classic overview of early Victorian England, there are a few melancholy pages devoted to the devastating Irish potato famine of the mid 1840s.  Young notes in an aside that Sir Robert Peel …

'I don't hate Muslims.  I hate Islam,' says Holland's rising political star  —  Geert Wilders, the popular MP whose film on Islam has fuelled the debate on race in Holland, wants an end to mosque building and Muslim immigration.  Ian Traynor met him in The Hague

The World's Worst Panderer  —  Even for those of us who shudder at many of John McCain's positions, there is something refreshing about a man who wins so many votes despite a major political shortcoming: he is abysmal at pandering.  —  What sets Senator McCain apart isn't so much his physical courage …

Clinton keeps up health care attack  —  This mailer, provided by the Obama campaign, is the latest salvo from Hillary on health care.  It also includes a quote from Paul Krugman accusing Obama of “unscrupulous demagoguery” on the issue.  Obama has a conference call shortly …

Israel kills terror chief with headrest bomb  —  Uzi Mahnaimi in Tel Aviv, Hala Jaber in Beirut and Jon Swain  —  NOTHING seemed very remarkable about the short, bearded man who mingled with other guests on Tuesday evening at a reception in Damascus, the Syrian capital …

The Dumbing Of America  —  Call Me a Snob, but Really, We're a Nation of Dunces  —  “The mind of this country, taught to aim at low objects, eats upon itself.”  Ralph Waldo Emerson offered that observation in 1837, but his words echo with painful prescience in today's very different United States.

Bottled water ‘is immoral’  —  Drinking bottled water should be made as unfashionable as smoking, according to a government adviser.  —  “We have to make people think that it's unfashionable just as we have with smoking.  We need a similar campaign to convince people that this is wrong,” …

Up to 80 killed in Afghan bombing  —  KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A suicide bomber penetrated a crowd watching a dog-fighting competition in the Taliban's former stronghold Sunday, killing up to 80 people in one of the bloodiest bombings since the regime's 2001 ouster.

Questions For John McCain  —  WASHINGTON — Foreign policy has slipped to the periphery of presidential politics, displaced by a nonexistent recession as the voters' preoccupation.  Come autumn, however, Iraq and Iran might be central subjects, Iraq as a bigger problem for the Democratic nominee …

New sharia row over Chancellor's plans for ‘Islamic bonds’  —  A new sharia law controversy erupted last night over Government plans to issue special “Islamic bonds” to pay for Gordon Brown's public-spending programme by raising money from the Middle East.  —  Britain is to become …