TUESDAY’S MINI-REPORT…. Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Welcome news out of Iran: “Sarah Shourd, one of three Americans held in Iran for more than a year on suspicion of spying, left the country on Tuesday after she was released on bail, and arrived in Oman a few hours later where she and her mother were reunited.”
* Peace talks: “Israeli and Palestinian leaders met at this Red Sea resort Tuesday for their second round of direct talks, tackling for the first time some of the toughest ‘core issues’ dividing the parties as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton scrambled to keep the talks from collapsing over the issue of renewed Israeli settlement construction.”
* Best retail numbers since March: “Retail sales rose in August by the largest amount in five months, suggesting a late spring economic swoon was temporary and not the start of another recession.”
* Better yet, the biggest monthly gain on business inventories in more than two years: “Inventories held by businesses jumped in July by the largest amount in two years while sales rebounded after two months of declines.”
* Rumors abound on a possible Elizabeth Warren nomination to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
* The DNC pounced on the latest news about John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) affinity for lobbyists, releasing its second ad of the week targeting the House Minority Leader.
* Violent crime fell sharply in 2009, but no one seems to know why.
* The International Monetary Fund is not insane. I’m delighted to hear that.
* The Press-Herald of Portland, Maine, really ought to be humiliated for running that apology.
* Fox News, in a surprising twist, will run Media Matters’ ad on News Corp’s RGA donation after all.
* Daniel Luzer chats at length with Alan Khazei, CEO of Be the Change, Inc., an organization that works to create national coalitions of non-profits and citizens to address issues like poverty and education, about the importance of national service.
* And sometimes, a headline can tell quite a story: “[Glenn] Beck puts his 8-28 rally on a timeline with Ten Commandments, the end of slavery, and Apollo 11.”
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
