Moktada al-Sadr, the founder of the Mahdi Army, seems to be cooperating with the latest effort to pacify Baghdad, but why he is doing so remains unclear.
Mitt Romney, the former Bay State guv now running third in the gop presidential sweepstakes, doesn't use a BlackBerry or even carry a cellphone. But that's not to say he's not a techie geek. In fact, he's proving to be just the kind of wonk that would make Microsoft's Bill Gates giddy at an issues lunch. Here's the deal: Romney is the first-ever presidential candidate to haul out a PowerPoint presentation at campaign events. He did it recently while addressing the Detroit Economic Club, and the audience went nuts for it. "It was amazing," an auto exec tells us. "I mean he didn't just make claims. He had the graphs to back him up!"
If you're wondering why, despite his denials, Al Gore remains the most talked about nonpresidential candidate, it's this: His friends think he's done so well in the private world that he could bankroll the start of his own 2008 bid. "If Al Gore wants to run, he will come with all the means necessary," says longtime ally Donna Brazile. "Al Gore is someone who can pull it off at half time," she said. But he's got competing interests for his wallet: Friends say he also wants to expand his global climate change campaign.
It doesn't look as if we'll be seeing Sen. Barack Obama, among the leanest Democrats running for the presidency, hanging out at McDonald's. That's because he's big on exercise and healthy eating. "He exercises every day," says an insider. Obama's a runner and a regular on the treadmill. The youthful lawmaker even ran for an hour before announcing his candidacy back in Illinois. Among his snacks: trail mix.
AP - A truck exploded Saturday as worshippers left a Sunni mosque west of Baghdad, killing at least 35 people and injuring more than 60 in an apparent sign of increased internal Sunni battles between insurgents and those opposing them.
AP - President Bush should follow British Prime Minister Tony Blair's lead and start withdrawing troops from Iraq, former U.N. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke said Saturday.
AP - A large, fast-moving snowstorm closed sections of major highways in the Plains on Saturday and threatened to dump more than a foot of snow on the Upper Midwest.
Attackers targeted Sunni worshippers leaving a mosque in Iraq Saturday, setting off a truck bomb that killed 39 and wounded more than 60 others. Elsewhere, protests continued about the treatment of a senior Shiite politician's son who said U.S. troops abused him when they detained him at the Iranian border.
Like a potential hit movie, the 79th Academy Awards come equipped with any number of promising storylines. There's a strong possibility that three African-Americans could win Oscars for acting, an event unprecedented in Oscar history. And two men who have never won the big one have another shot.
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