May 26, 2011 5:30 PM
[url=#]Thursday's Mini-Report[/url]
By Steve Benen

Today's edition of quick hits:

* It's been a bad month for bad guys: “Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb general accused of war crimes including masterminding the massacre of some 8,000 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica in 1995, has been captured in Serbia after more than 15 years as one of the world's most wanted fugitives.â€

May 27, 2011 5:30 PM
[url=#]Friday's Mini-Report[/url]
By Steve Benen 

Today's edition of quick hits:

* The list of people missing or unaccounted for in Joplin, Missouri, is down to 156. The death toll stands at 126.

* A frayed partnership: “Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned on Friday that relations between the United States and Pakistan had reached ‘a turning point,' and called on Pakistan's leaders to take urgent measures against Islamic extremists in the wake of the killing of Osama Bin Laden. Mrs. Clinton, the highest-ranking American official to visit Pakistan since Navy Seals found Bin Laden hiding in a garrison town 35 miles from the capital, did not get public pledges of cooperation from the Pakistanis.â€

May 31, 2011 5:30 PM
[url=#]Tuesday's Mini-Report[/url]
By Steve Benen

Today's edition of quick hits:

* Is Karzai threatening NATO? “In one of his sternest warnings yet concerning civilian casualties, President Hamid Karzai said Tuesday that NATO must stop air attacks on Afghan homes immediately, or face ‘unilateral action' from the Afghan government.â€

June 01, 2011 5:30 PM
[url=#]Wednesday's Mini-Report[/url]
By Steve Benen

Today's edition of quick hits:

* Yemen: “Yemen appeared to tip closer to all out civil war on Wednesday as government troops and opposition tribesmen battled to control key positions in the capital and foreign diplomats boarded planes to flee.â€

June 02, 2011 5:30 PM
Thursday's Mini-Report
By Steve Benen

Today's edition of quick hits:

* Deadly shooting in Yuma, Arizona: “The confusing situation was still being pieced together by investigators, but it appeared that a lone gunman, Carl Hal Dyess, 73, targeted the victims and then turned the gun on himself . His motivation was unclear, a law enforcement official said. One person who survived the shooting was flown to a Phoenix-area hospital, the authorities said.â€

June 03, 2011 5:30 PM
[url=#]Friday's Mini-Report[/url]
By Steve Benen

Today's edition of quick hits:

* Syria: “Syrians poured into the streets Friday in some of the largest antigovernment protests yet despite the shutdown of much of the country's Internet network, which has been crucial to demonstrators' ability to mobilize and a major source of information for those outside the country. The worst violence Friday appeared to be in the restive city of Hama, where at least 40 protesters were killed in a continuation of a brutal nationwide government crackdown that has lasted for months, according to local activists.â€

June 06, 2011 5:30 PM
[url=#]Monday's Mini-Report[/url]
By Steve Benen

Today's edition of quick hits:

* Iraq: “Five American soldiers were killed Monday in one of the deadliest days in two years for the American military in Iraq, a day that underscored the continuing threats American troops face as they prepare to withdraw from the country.â€

June 07, 2011 5:30 PM
[url=#]Tuesday's Mini-Report[/url]
By Steve Benen

Today's edition of quick hits:

* Escalation in Libya: “In a sudden, sharp escalation of NATO's air campaign over Libya, warplanes dropped more than 50 bombs on targets in Tripoli on Tuesday, obliterating large areas of Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya command compound.â€

June 08, 2011 5:30 PM
[url=#]Wednesday's Mini-Report[/url]
By Steve Benen

Today's edition of quick hits:

* Ryan Crocker to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: “President Obama's nominee to become the new U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan told lawmakers Wednesday that the death of Osama bin Laden last month marked ‘an important step' toward core U.S. goals in the country but that more hard work lies ahead to prevent al-Qaeda from regaining its safe havens there.â€

June 09, 2011 5:30 PM
Thursday's Mini-Report
By Steve Benen

Today's edition of quick hits:

* It's a mistake to call this an “escalation,â€

June 10, 2011 5:30 PM
Friday's Mini-Report
By Steve Benen

Today's edition of quick hits:

* Escalation in Syria: “Backed by tanks and helicopters, Syrian forces swept into the restive northern village of Jisr al-Shoughour late Friday, pressing an offensive against a town that has offered the stiffest challenge yet to four decades of Assad family rule.â€

June 13, 2011 5:30 PM
[url=#]Monday's Mini-Report[/url]
By Steve Benen

Today's edition of quick hits:

* A rough spring for bad guys: “Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, Al Qaeda's leader in East Africa and the mastermind of the American Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, was killed in a late-night shootout at a security checkpoint in Mogadishu, Somalia's capital, Somali and American officials said Saturday.â€

June 14, 2011 5:30 PM
[url=#]Tuesday's Mini-Report[/url]
By Steve Benen

Today's edition of quick hits:

* Expectations are a funny thing: “In the United States, retail sales declined for the first time in nearly a year, but the decline was less than forecast, and so the report helped push stock prices higher and offered some respite to investors overwhelmed by recent weak economic data.â€

June 15, 2011 5:30 PM
[url=#]Wednesday's Mini-Report[/url]
By Steve Benen

* The Greek debt crisis intensifies: “Thousands of Greeks went on a nationwide strike Wednesday, protesting the government's proposal for spending cuts to enable the debt-ridden nation to continue receiving international bailout funds. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou announced that he will reshuffle his cabinet on Thursday and seek a vote of confidence for his new government.â€

June 16, 2011 5:30 PM
Thursday's Mini-Report
By Steve Benen

Today's edition of quick hits:

* Ayman al-Zawahri takes over as al Qaeda's leader, a month after U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden.

* It's too high, but at least it's moving in the right direction: “The Labor Department said Thursday that unemployment benefit applications fell 16,000 to a seasonally adjusted 414,000, the second drop in three weeks. That's a positive sign that layoffs are slowing.â€

"* Given how strikingly low his ratings are, it's amazing Fox's Eric Bolling is even paid to host a nationally televised program. How can he expect to replace Glenn Beck, whose ratings have also taken a sharp turn for the worse, when he has such a tiny audience?"

Easy... have Beck on as a guest commentator...

June 17, 2011 5:30 PM
Friday's Mini-Report
By Steve Benen

* Syrians defy crackdown: “Thousands of protesters poured into the streets of the capital's suburbs and three of Syria's five largest cities Friday, in a weekly show of defiance that came days before President Bashar al-Assad was expected to address Syrians for the first time in two months. Activists said at least 19 people were killed and dozens wounded.â€

If you watch all the way to the end of this clip — literally, the last 30 seconds — you'll see that President Obama, among his other talents, has the ability to make babies stop crying. (The look he gives the First Lady is priceless.)


WAY too cute!

June 20, 2011 5:30 PM
Monday's Mini-Report
By Steve Benen

Today's edition of quick hits:

* The Supreme Court sides with business interests once again: “The Supreme Court on Monday threw out the largest employment discrimination case in the nation's history. The suit, against Wal-Mart Stores, had sought to consolidate the claims of as many as 1.5 million women on the theory that the company had discriminated against them in pay and promotion decisions.â€

June 21, 2011 5:30 PM
Tuesday's Mini-Report
By Steve Benen

Today's edition of quick hits:

* Though we don't yet know any details about what he'll say, President Obama will deliver a televised address tomorrow night, outlining the “scale and paceâ€

June 22, 2011 5:30 PM
Wednesday's Mini-Report
By Steve Benen

Today's edition of quick hits:

* What to expect tonight: “President Obama plans to announce Wednesday evening that he will order the withdrawal of 10,000 American troops from Afghanistan this year, and another 20,000 troops, the remainder of the 2009 “surge,â€

[i]And if Republican lawmakers want to prove they're “pro-women,â€

June 23, 2011 5:30 PM
Thursday's Mini-Report
By Steve Benen

Today's edition of quick hits:

* If only the jobs crisis still mattered: “More Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, adding to evidence that the labor market is weakening. The Labor Department says applications rose by 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 429,000 last week. It was the second increase in three weeks and the biggest jump in a month.â€

June 24, 2011 5:30 PM
Friday's Mini-Report
By Steve Benen

Today's edition of quick hits:

* Pakistan's Harakat-ul-Mujahedeen: “The cellphone of Osama bin Laden's trusted courier, which was recovered in the raid that killed both men in Pakistan last month, contained contacts to a militant group that is a longtime asset of Pakistan's intelligence agency, senior American officials who have been briefed on the findings say.â€

June 27, 2011 5:30 PM
Monday's Mini-Report
By Steve Benen

Today's edition of quick hits:

* Busted: “A jury on Monday convicted Rod R. Blagojevich, the former governor of Illinois, of trying to personally benefit from his role in selecting a replacement for President Obama in the United States Senate.â€