Muslim rioters torch church in Nigeria

By Ahmed Saka, Associated Press

Tuesday, 19 January 2010

Angry Muslim youths set a church filled with worshippers ablaze in northern Nigeria, starting a riot that killed at least 27 people and wounded more than 300 others in the latest religious violence in the region.

Read more: The Independent 

Pfeiffer repeats WH concern with Fox News

By Tony Romm – 01/18/10 01:09 PM ET

Leadership of the White House’s communication shop may have changed, but its new chief made clear on Monday he shares his predecessor’s concerns about Fox News.

The network is “not a traditional news organization,” director Dan Pfeiffer stressed, adding he agreed with former Director Anita Dunn’s take on the network

Read more: The Hill

Krugman: Obama’s Biggest Mistake – Not Blaming Bush Enough for Recession

By Noel Sheppard (Bio | Archive)
January 18, 2010 – 16:37 ET

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman has a brilliant solution for Barack Obama to improve his sagging poll numbers: spend more time blaming George W. Bush for the recession.

“The Obama administration’s troubles are the result not of excessive ambition, but of policy and political misjudgments,” Krugman wrote Monday.

Read more: Newsbusters

What’s Next for the CRA?

An ambitious plan to update the Carter-era Community Reinvestment Act that supporters hope to see signed into law in 2010 comes amid charges that this legislation was responsible for nothing less than the subprime crisis and the resulting collapse of the residential real estate market

Read more: Washington Independent

Obama’s EEOC Nominee: Society Should ‘Not Tolerate Private Beliefs’ That ‘Adversely Affect’ Homosexuals

Monday, January 18, 2010
By Matt Cover, Staff Writer

Chai R. Feldblum, a law professor at Georgetown University Law School, has been nominated by President Obama to serve on the Equal Employment Opportunity COmmission. (Photo from Georgetown Law Web site)

(CNSNews.com) – Chai Feldblum, the Georgetown University law professor nominated by President Obama to serve on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, has written that society should “not tolerate” any “private beliefs,” including religious beliefs, that may negatively affect homosexual “equality

Read more: CNS News

Freed Turkish gunman who shot Pope John Paul II is allowed to visit Pontiff’s grave as he proclaims: ‘I am a messenger from God’

By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 12:21 AM on 19th January 2010

The man who tried to kill Pope John Paul II will be allowed to pray at his tomb, Vatican officials said after the hitman was released from jail on Monday.

Mehmet Ali Agca, 52, was convicted of the attempted assassination of the late Pontiff in St Peter’s Square in May 1981, firing four bullets into him before being arrested.

Read more: Daily Mail

Massachusetts has estimated 116K dead voters on its rolls

By: Mark Tapscott
Editorial Page Editor
01/18/10 1:28 PM EST

A new study of the nation’s voter registration records finds 3.3 million dead voters are still on the rolls – including an estimated 116,483 in Massachusetts – while another 12.9 million who are ineligible also remain

Read more at the Washington Examiner

Reversing Obama’s Worst Decision Yet?

Jennifer Rubin – 01.18.2010 – 8:25 AM

Michael Isikoff reports:

Top administration officials are getting nervous that they may not be able to proceed with one of their most controversial national-security moves: trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other accused 9/11 conspirators in federal court in New York City.

Read more: Commentary Magazine

Magnitude 6.0 quake hits Guatemala coast

msnbc.com news services

updated 11:18 a.m. ET, Mon., Jan. 18, 2010

WASHINGTON – A magnitude 6.0 earthquake hit Guatemala’s Pacific coast near the border with El Salvador on Monday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

Read more: MSNBC

Obama tweets for the first time

By Michael O’Brien – 01/18/10 03:36 PM ET

President Barack Obama personally used the microblogging service Twitter on Monday for the first time.

During a visit to the D.C. offices for the American Red Cross, Obama used the relief organization’s page to tweet for the first time.

Obama tweeted:

President Obama and the First Lady are here visiting our disaster operation center right now.

Read more: The Hill