MONDAY’S MINI-REPORT…. Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Libya: “NATO warplanes struck Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s compound here early Monday and bombed a state television facility in an escalation of the air campaign to aid the rebellion against his four decades in power. The attack on the compound was the third since air raids began in mid-March, but the strike at the television facility was the most significant broadening yet of the NATO air campaign.”
* The Syrian crackdown intensifies: “The Syrian Army stormed the restive city of Dara’a with tanks and soldiers and helped detain dozens in towns across the country Monday in an escalation of a widening crackdown on Syria’s five-week-old uprising, according to human rights activists, residents and accounts posted on social networking sites. They said at least 25 people were killed in Dara’a, with reports of bodies strewn in the streets.”
* On a related note, the Obama administration is considering sanctions against the Assad government.
* Afghanistan: “Taliban militants dug a lengthy tunnel underground and into the main jail in Kandahar city and whisked out more than 450 prisoners, most of whom were Taliban fighters, officials and insurgents said Monday.”
* Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) wanted the U.S. Supreme Court to rule immediately on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. The justices turned him down.
* Wikileaks: “A trove of more than 700 classified military documents provides new and detailed accounts of the men who have done time at the Guantánamo Bay prison in Cuba, and offers new insight into the evidence against the 172 men still locked up there.”
* Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh will give up power in exchange for immunity from prosecution for him and his family.
* Taking good news where I can find it: “More people bought new homes in March, giving the battered industry a small lift after the worst winter for sales in almost a half-century.”
* I’d take deficit hawks more seriously if there was an agreed-upon definition of what a deficit hawk is.
* Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ (D-Ariz.) condition, remarkably enough, continues to improve, with an increased ability to speak and walk.
* Rachel Maddow is featured in eight new “Lean Forward” MSNBC promos, and I’m embarrassed to admit how much I like them.
* Daniel Luzer: “In 2009 President Obama announced that the United States should have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by the year 2020. We’ve got a long way to go.”
* And I was curious to see whether Atlas Shrugged: Part I would be a successful film, given Tea Party support. After two weeks in theaters, it appears to the movie is an embarrassing flop.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
