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Report: Fierce fighting as IDF commandos launch raid deep in Lebanon — Israel Defense Forces commandos reportedly landed by helicopter late Tuesday night near the Hezbollah stronghold of Baalbek in what Lebanese security sources described as a major operation against suspected Hezbollah positions.
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Marine Names Murtha in Defamation Suit — Congressman Discussed Killings Involving Serviceman's Squad in Haditha, Iraq — A Marine Corps staff sergeant who led the squad accused of killing two dozen civilians in Haditha, Iraq, will file a lawsuit today in federal court in Washington claiming …
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Source: Haditha evidence implicates Marines — Investigators reportedly finish initial review in deaths of 24 civilians — WASHINGTON - Evidence collected on the deaths of 24 Iraqis in Haditha supports accusations that U.S. Marines deliberately shot the civilians, including unarmed women and children …

Hizbollah bombards northern Israel — BEIRUT (Reuters) - Hizbollah guerrillas bombarded northern Israel with rockets and fought up to 6,000 Israeli troops in Lebanon on Wednesday after Israel vowed to pursue the war until a strong international force arrived.
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Long-range rocket lands near Jenin — Some of long-range rockets fired at Israel Wednesday land across Green Line, in West Bank area - most southern point Hizbullah has managed to hit so far. Police sappers believe rockets made in Syria — Ali waked — Some of the long range rockets …

9/11 Panel Suspected Deception by Pentagon — Allegations Brought to Inspectors General — Some staff members and commissioners of the Sept. 11 panel concluded that the Pentagon's initial story of how it reacted to the 2001 terrorist attacks may have been part of a deliberate effort …
Discussion:
The Carpetbagger Report, AMERICAblog, Captain's Quarters, Attytood, Crooks and Liars and Brilliant at Breakfast

Ex-Aide: Harris Hid Subpoena — More from this channel: — This feature requires the Macromedia Flash Plugin. Please visit http://www.macromedia.com/go/ getflashplayer to download this plugin. — WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate candidate Katherine Harris received a grand jury subpoena …


In full: Tony Blair speech — Tony Blair has given a speech to the World Affairs Council in Los Angeles. The prime minister warned that an "arc of extremism" was stretching across the Middle East and outlined his view on how best to tackle it. — Overnight, the news came through …
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Cuban TV: Castro says health 'stable' — Illness forces Cuban leader to cede power temporarily to brother — HAVANA, Cuba (CNN) — Fidel Castro's health situation is "stable" and he is in "good spirits," according to a message attributed to him and read on Cuban television Tuesday evening.
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Senate Hearings on Public Expression of Religion Act Set For Wednessday — When the ACLU wins a case against the Boy Scouts, the public display of the Ten Commandments, veterans memorials, and other symbols of American history and heritage guess who pays them? You do!


Democrats Scrambling To Organize Voter Turnout — Top Democrats are increasingly concerned that they lack an effective plan to turn out voters this fall, creating tension among party leaders and prompting House Democrats to launch a fundraising effort aimed exclusively at mobilizing Democratic partisans.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, The RCP Blog, Outside The Beltway, Power Line, The Strata-Sphere, Oliver Willis and Daily Pundit

U.S. Wins Access to Reporter Phone Records — A federal prosecutor may inspect the telephone records of two New York Times reporters in an effort to identify their confidential sources, a federal appeals court in New York ruled yesterday. — The 2-to-1 decision, from a court historically sympathetic …

Mideast Lessons From 1973 — Groping for a way to understand the ruinous mess in the Middle East, I find myself looking backward to an earlier ruinous mess, the Yom Kippur War of October 1973. — That long-ago war, like the current one in Lebanon, began with an Arab sneak attack …

Much Undone In Rebuilding Iraq, Audit Says — A flailing Iraq reconstruction effort that has been dominated for more than three years by U.S. dollars and companies is being transferred to Iraqis, leaving them the challenge of completing a long list of projects left unfinished by the Americans.

Evolution opponents lose control of Kansas school board — TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Conservative Republicans who brought international attention to Kansas by approving academic standards calling evolution into question lost control of the state school board in primaries.
Discussion:
The Carpetbagger Report

Hill fries free to be French again — The fries on Capitol Hill are French again. — So is the breakfast toast in the congressional cafeterias, with both fries and toast having been liberated from the appellation "freedom." — Three years after House Republicans trumpeted the new names …
Discussion:
TPMmuckraker

White House Proposal Would Expand Authority of Military Courts — A draft Bush administration plan for special military courts seeks to expand the reach and authority of such "commissions" to include trials, for the first time, of people who are not members of al-Qaeda or the Taliban …