Tony Snow, Former White House Press Secretary and FOX News Anchor, Dies at 53  —  Tony Snow, the former White House press secretary and conservative pundit who bedeviled the press corps and charmed millions as a FOX News television and radio host, has died after a long bout with cancer.  He was 53.

Newsweek Poll: Obama drops like a rock  —  Last month, Newsweek's poll surprised many by showing a huge gap between Barack Obama and John McCain, with the Democratic nominee-apparent enjoying a 15-point lead over the Republican.  One month later, Obama has lost all of the momentum and has dropped into a virtual tie with McCain.

U.S. Shuts Big Bank As Crisis Intensifies  —  IndyMac Bank, a prolific mortgage specialist that helped fuel the housing boom, was seized Friday by federal regulators in one of the largest bank failures in U.S. history.  —  The Pasadena, Calif., thrift was one of the largest savings and loans …

Every Time I Try to Crawl Out, They Pull Me Back in!  —  You know something? … No, that is not right: … No, that is still not right: … Maybe this will do it: … Called on forty minutes' notice, I trot over to the J-School studio to be a talking head on BBC/Newsnight about Fannie and Freddie.

Obama's latest flip-flop: Death penalty for bin Laden!  Update: Double flip-flop with a global test?  —  Just three weeks ago, Barack Obama said that he would not make Osama bin Laden into a martyr if he was captured.  Today, Barack Obama suddenly thinks the death penalty would be keen-o for OBL.

The Iranian threat, real and Photoshopped  —  Wired's Noah Shachtman rounds up some of the better mockeries of Iran's attempt to Photoshop a failed missile launch into a success.  My favorite may be the old school approach of a Boing Boing commenter:  —  While the Photoshop folly is deserving …

2 Vetoes Quash U.N. Sanctions on Zimbabwe  —  UNITED NATIONS — An American-led effort to impose sanctions against Zimbabwe failed in the Security Council on Friday, with Russia and China exercising a rare double veto to quash a resolution that they said represented excessive interference in the country's domestic matters.

U.S. air strike kills 47 civilians: official  —  JALALABAD, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A U.S. coalition force air strike on Sunday killed 47 civilians, including 39 women and children, in the eastern province of Nangarhar, an Afghan official said on Friday.  —  The issue of civilian casualties …