Ha'aretz

Iran: Ahmadinejad on the Ropes in Clash with his Supreme Leader TIME (blog) Khamenei not only holds executive power, but clerics get to determine who is allowed to run for election, and whether legislation accords with Islamic principles. The limits of elected power in Iran had been clearly on view during the presidency of his ... Power Struggle in Iran Enters the MosqueNew York Times Iran's president, supreme Ayatollah battle for authorityVancouver Sun Ahmadinejad row with Khamenei intensifiesAljazeera.net Fox News -Monsters and Critics.com -WWL First News all 84 news articles »

Niall Ferguson claims inflation is at 10 percent. Ponnuru isn't buying it. Nor is Yglesias: Normal people judge inflation by watching fluctuations in the price of low-cost, high-frequency purchases. That means that common perceptions of inflation are dominated by things...

Joel Wing finds few stories on Iraq's protest movement: The protests and fighting in the Middle East and North Africa continue to this day. There are still stories about Libya, Syria, Bahrain, and other countries. That’s no longer true of...

Today on the Dish, Andrew begrudgingly defended Tony Kushner from charges of anti-Semitism, and recalled the past infighting around gay marriage. We rounded up the reax to last night's GOP debate, including some defenses of torture, and checked in on...

The power struggle between Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is continuing to escalate, even interrupting Friday Prayer.

Mehrdad Oskouei has managed to make documentaries about female suicide, juvenile drug addiction and Iran’s crisis of youth identity without landing in a prison cell.

By Bruce Nolan
Religion News Service

NEW ORLEANS -- Working in a cluster of offices above a LifeWay Christian Bookstore, Bible scholars are buried in a 20-year project to codify the thousands of changes, verse by verse, word by word -- even letter by letter -- that crept into the early New Testament during hundreds of years of laborious hand-copying.

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When we share food in a spiritual setting, we imbue it with a meaning that draws us closer to our creator and closer to one another.

By Adelle M. Banks
Religion News Service

(RNS) More than 20 percent of atheist scientists consider themselves to be "spiritual," according to a Rice University study.

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As you and I learn to grieve properly -- and fully -- we see God show up with comfort for our weary souls.

Here, from afar, is more evidence that street and square, beach and byway all have a greater and unrealized multipurpose capacity, ripe for recalibration in ever-evolving America.

Although I am not a Catholic, I was among the many outside the Church who found Pope John to be an inspirational figure during his tragically short Vatican tenure in the early 1960's at the height of the Cold War.

The bin Laden Raid and the 'Virtues of Boldness' Wall Street Journal You had a similar opportunity in Iran in June of 2009," after the stolen election set off massive protests, he says. "What did we do? We sat on our hands. Why?" Because the Obama administration "entertained this hope that we could negotiate with the ... and more »

Hilton Head Island Packet

In Hilton Head speech, author recalls imprisonment in Iran Hilton Head Island Packet Esfandiari doubted the upheaval in the Arab world, including successful revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, would have any lasting effects in Iran. She noted that street protests after the disputed 2009 re-election of president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad failed ...

New York Times

An Iranian Filmmaker Tiptoes Around the Censors to Explore Risky Subjects New York Times His own extensive footage of supporters of both President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the top opposition candidate, Mir Hussein Moussavi, during the 2009 election campaign remains unedited — perhaps for historians to examine in a later age. ... and more »

BBC News

Power Struggle in Iran Enters the Mosque New York Times Government opponents accuse the Intelligence Ministry of rigging the election that won Mr. Ahmadinejad a second term, a power Mr. Khamenei may not have wanted him to have again, analysts said. In another conjecture, the supreme leader's son, ... Iran's president, supreme Ayatollah battle for authorityVancouver Sun Ahmadinejad row with Khamenei intensifiesAljazeera.net Reports of the Arrest of Ahmadinejad's 'Exorcist' Fuel Concerns About Iran's ...Fox News Monsters and Critics.com -WWL First News -BBC News all 81 news articles »

This pooch would make a terrible SEAL:

Phil Gyford doubts that 2 billion people worldwide watched the royal event. Cory Doctorow summarizes: In the UK, 39.6% of the population watched the wedding. For the two billion number to be real, the royal wedding would have to be...

A reader writes: Dogs definitely have skin in this game, too. Do you remember the stories of the videos discovered after the fall of Kabul, of Al Qaeda "scientists" sharpening their chemical weapons technology by gassing dogs? That alone would...

Marc Lynch doesn't think that "the presence of U.S. troops [in Iraq] is really a decisive strategic factor anymore." He advocates "thinking past the military mission and devoting adequate resources to the civilian sector:" Iraq is slowly evolving into a...

A new conspiracy theory is born: (Hat tip: Chait)

Felix Salmon explains it: [R]estaurants are much like Groupon itself. It makes money on every sale — but it will only see its margins start to rise impressively if and when its merchants start coming back on a regular basis....

Alissa J. Rubin recently donned a burka for the first time: I looked out at the men in the small bazaars we passed through. I could see them and they couldn’t see me, and I felt a certain satisfaction —...

Queen Elizabeth II visits St George's School in Windsor, England on Friday May 6, 2011. The Queen toured the school, visiting the pre-prep classroom and IT suite, watched a ballet demonstration and a scene from the School's summer show. By...

A reader writes: As a native Southerner and someone who lived in the Northeast for a considerable amount of time, I can tell you that attitudes such as those suggested of Southerners by a previous reader go both ways. My...

The death toll rises: Human rights group Insan said that at least 16 people had been killed in the central city of Homs, six in Hama and two in Jableh. It said the total death toll was 26 but didn't...

After American commandos killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan on Monday and flew away with his body, they left behind at least two surviving family members of the Qaeda leader: a wife and a daughter.

We spend most of our days coming up with funny things to say about ridiculous photos, so it's only fair that we put our dear readers' skills to the test. Cue "Caption This," our weekly caption competition where you can submit hilarious captions for the photo of the week via Twitter.

Simply tweet your best captions to @HuffPostComedy or use the hashtag #CaptionThis to send us your submission, and you might make into our slideshow of the best captions! Check back tomorrow to see all the hilarious submissions and try again next week when we pick a different politician or celebrity photo to have fun with.

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As many as one hundred Southern California conservationists and animal rights activists are expected to stage a protest march on Saturday, May 7, to demand adequate protections for a seal colony in La Jolla, CA

Progressive liberals on the one hand, and neocons on the other, have between them done plenty of harm to the USA. Most of the lives and treasure would not have been lost if the Constitution had been followed more closely by both groups.

Any invasion of armies today is being met with an equally hard-hitting invasion of media to cover unfolding events -- often to the consternation of those who seek to suppress people.

A true queen's queen, Alexis Mateo stole our hearts with sharp-tongued wit and unbeatable stage presence. This native of Puerto Rico (where as of late,...

A U.S. drone strike in Yemen Thursday was aimed at killing Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born radical cleric who is suspected of orchestrating terrorist attacks on the U.S, but the missile missed its target, according to Yemeni and U.S. officials.

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msnbc.com

Fatah-Hamas: A Modest Proposal for Resetting the Palestinian Statehood Proposition Hot Air The old-guard Arab leadership of Saudi Arabia and Jordan would not stand idly by while the Muslim Brotherhood or Iran tried to prejudice the election's outcome. In a tactical sense, this proposal would turn the statehood question around, ... Iran supports Palestinian unity effortsPress TV Egypt shakes up Middle Eastern orderAsia Times Online Iran supports Palestinian unity efforts: lawmakerPeople's Daily Online The Guardian -The Israel Project (press release) -Financial Times all 4,387 news articles »