Across Mideast, Arabs hail shoe-hurling journalist  —  BAGHDAD — Thousands of Iraqis took to the streets Monday to demand the release of a reporter who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush, as Arabs across many parts of the Middle East hailed the journalist as a hero and praised …

The Real Story Behind the Rushed Blagojevich Bust: How the Feds Are Frustrated by Losing (Maybe) Half of Their Case  —  Cam Simpson reports on the Rod Blagojevich case in Chicago.  —  Conventional wisdom holds that U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald ordered the FBI to arrest Rod Blagojevich …

Two Sides of a Troubled Governor, Sinking Deeper  —  CHICAGO — Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich is a polished speaker who can win over elderly women at luncheons in southern Illinois with his earnest attention and eloquently recite historical anecdotes from the lives of the leaders he says he most admires …

Limits on Executive Pay May Prove Toothless  —  Loophole in Bailout Provision Leaves Enforcement in Doubt  —  Congress wanted to guarantee that the $700 billion financial bailout would limit the eye-popping pay of Wall Street executives, so lawmakers included a mechanism …

New taxes, cuts in budget plan  —  Paterson sees $404M tax on non-diet soda; higher levies on health care  —  Click byline for more stories by writer.  —  New taxes, deep cuts to education and health care, and a restructuring of the state's economic development programs will be hallmarks …

Net neutrality and the benefits of caching  —  One of the first posts I wrote for this blog last summer tried to define what we at Google mean when we talk about the concept of net neutrality.  —  Broadband providers — the on-ramps to the Internet — should not be allowed to prioritize traffic based …

McCain unsure if he'll support Palin for president  —  (CNN) — Sen. John McCain said Sunday he would not necessarily support his former running mate if she chose to run for president.  —  Speaking to ABC's “This Week,” McCain was asked whether Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin could count on his support.

The (Really) Moderate Muslims of Kosovo  —  On February 17, 2008, Kosovo declared independence from Serbia, becoming the newest country in the world—and one of the most unusual.  Most of its citizens are Muslim, an oddity in Europe; further, unlike most Muslim-majority nations …

Bush On Al Qaeda Not Existing In Iraq Before Invasion: ‘So What?’  —  Yesterday, after an Iraqi journalist used “[t]wo of the worst insults in Islam” against him, an unfazed President Bush sat down with ABC's Martha Raddatz for an exit interview in Iraq.  When Raddatz asked Bush about his legacy …

On the Hunt in Baghdad  —  BAGHDAD — “If your men conduct any raids,” I said to Captain Todd Looney at Combat Outpost Ford on the outskirts of Sadr City, Baghdad, “I want to go.”  —  “We might have something come up,” he said.  “If so, I'll get you out there.”

Hoekstra to announce retirement  —  Less than a week after being reappointed as the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Pete Hoekstra (Mich.) will announce that he will not seek a tenth term in 2010, according to a source with knowledge of the decision.

The 17th Floor, Where Wealth Went to Vanish  —  The epicenter of what may be the largest Ponzi scheme in history was the 17th floor of the Lipstick Building, an oval red-granite building rising 34 floors above Third Avenue in Midtown Manhattan.  —  A busy stock-trading operation occupied the 19th floor …

Gen. Shinseki's Silence  —  The announcement that retired Army chief of staff Eric Shinseki will be President-elect Barack Obama's nominee for secretary of veterans affairs has energized one of the most enduring myths of the Bush presidency.  Among the media coverage in recent days …

Spousal Ties to Lobbying Test a Vow From Obama  —  WASHINGTON — Linda Hall Daschle is one of the most important aviation lobbyists in town.  Ms. Daschle is also the wife of Tom Daschle, whom President-elect Barack Obama has chosen to be the next secretary of health and human services.

Roads, Trains Can't Handle Jan. 20 Droves  —  With Street and Bridge Closures, Expect ‘Long Lines, Long Walks’  —  Even if only half of the projected 2 million to 4 million people show up for next month's presidential inauguration, the Washington region's roadways and transit systems …

David Shuster to Host MSNBC Political Program  —  MSNBC is replacing one David with another on its 6 p.m. program, “1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.”  —  The cable news channel, owned by NBC Universal, is expected to announce Monday that David Shuster, a Washington correspondent …

DSCC wins battle for White  —  Houston Mayor Bill White (D) will run for the Texas Senate seat that will be vacated by Kay Bailey Hutchison (R), according to a source with knowledge of White's plans and local media reports.  —  The three-term mayor, who won reelection in 2007 with 86 percent of the vote …