International:
Recommendation: "Cut-n-Run" w/in 2 years
The Iraq Study Group's report, expected out Wednesday, urges a gradual reduction of U.S. forces in Iraq and a more aggressive regional diplomacy, but set no timetable, according to officials familiar with the group's deliberations. The report could give President Bush' s political cover to shift tactics in the increasingly unpopular war.

Some media reports suggested that the commission would recommend withdrawing nearly all U.S. combat forces from Iraq by early 2008, leaving behind only those troops needed to train and support the Iraqis. The reports described the recommendation as goal rather than a firm timetable. Details Here

Possible Al Qaeda Cyber Attack on U.S. Financial Institutions
Al Qaeda terrorists are eyeing U.S. financial Web sites for possible cyber attack, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed Thursday night to FOX News.

The federal Computer Emergency Readiness Team CERT -- the cyber security branch of DHS -- said it had translated information from a jihadist Web site, and that information leads them to believe that the threat is aspirational, not operational, officials said.

The target would be to enter American financial institutions, particularly those that engage in online stock trading, and disrupt and corrupt the transactions. Officials added, however, that the terrorist organization probably is not capable of carrying out such an attack at this time.

Al-Maliki faces revolt within government
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki faced a widening revolt within his divided government as two senior Sunni politicians joined prominent Shiite lawmakers and Cabinet members in criticizing his policies.

Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi said he wanted to see al-Maliki's government gone and another "understanding" for a new coalition put in place with guarantees that ensure collective decision making.

"There is a clear deterioration in security and everything is moving in the wrong direction," the Sunni leader told The Associated Press. "This situation must be redressed as soon as possible. If they continue, the country will plunge into civil war." Full story here

Clinton on the war (click link for video)

National:
Dollar slides as US business slows
The dollar suffered sharp falls on Thursday, hit by reports of weak US business activity and a benign inflation picture.

The euro rose 0.7 per cent against the dollar to $1.3247 by late afternoon in New York after data from Chicago purchasing managers indicated that business activity in the Midwest unexpectedly fell last month. Details here

Democrats Reject Key 9/11 Panel Suggestion
With control of Congress now secured, Democratic leaders have decided for now against implementing the one measure that would affect them most directly: a wholesale reorganization of Congress to improve oversight and funding of the nation's intelligence agencies. Instead, Democratic leaders may create a panel to look at the issue and produce recommendations, according to congressional aides and lawmakers.

Because plans for implementing the commission's recommendations are still fluid, Democratic officials would not speak for the record. But aides on the House and Senate appropriations, armed services and intelligence committees confirmed this week that a reorganization of Congress would not be part of the package of homeland-security changes up for passage in the "first 100 hours" of the Democratic Congress. More here

Judge Orders Bush Administration to Resume Paying for Katrina Housing
A federal judge ordered the Bush administration Wednesday to immediately resume making housing benefits available to thousands of victims of Hurricane Katrina.

U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon said the Federal Emergency Management Agency failed to adequately explain why it ended the 18-month housing assistance program for people who lost their homes in the 2005 storm. Remainder of this story here

New Rules Make Firms Track E-Mails, IMs
U.S. companies will need to keep track of all the e-mails, instant messages and other electronic documents generated by their employees thanks to new federal rules that go into effect Friday, legal experts say.

The rules, approved by the Supreme Court in April, require companies and other entities involved in federal litigation to produce "electronically stored information" as part of the discovery process, when evidence is shared by both sides before a trial. More here

In Other News...
The Iraq Study Group “reached a consensus on Wednesday on a final report that will call for a gradual pullback of the 15 American combat brigades now in Iraq but stop short of setting a firm timetable for their withdrawal.” The “implicit message” of the report is that the pullback process “should begin sometime next year.”

Senior State Department analyst Kendall Myers called Tony Blair’s relationship with President Bush “totally one-sided.” Myers said that “we typically ignore them and take no notice -- it’s a sad business,” and he admitted feeling “a little ashamed” of the way Bush has treated Blair.

Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) has decided to divest “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in his own mutual funds from “companies that do business with Sudan.” “With so many lives at stake, we should do all we can to stop this genocide, both as individuals and as a community,” Brownback said.

Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS), whose tenure as chairman of Senate intelligence since 2002 led his panel to be nicknamed the Senate Cover-Up Committee, “may be looking for an exit” from the committee.

The number of people -- 7 million, one in every 32 American adults -- that were behind bars, on probation or on parole by the end of last year, a new record.

Former insurance mogul Maurice Greenberg, who is making a long-shot bid to buy the New York Times, is a “friend of Henry Kissinger, once mentioned as a Reagan appointee to help run the CIA,” and a major donor to conservative causes.

A Halliburton subsidiary agreed to pay the federal government $8 million to resolve accusations of overbilling related to the firm’s work for the Army in the Balkans, the Justice Department said yesterday. The company said in a written statement that it “was ‘pleased’ with the resolution.”

From The Right:
Ann Coulter: Airport Security Should Be Profiling Arabs
The six imams removed from a US Airways flight last week have apparently adopted my suggestion that if they really want to protest the airline, instead of boycotting US Airways, they should start flying it frequently.

From The Left:
Thomas E. Ricks and Robin Wright: Iraq Study Group to Call for Troop "Pullback"
The Iraq Study Group, which wrapped up eight months of deliberations yesterday, has reached a consensus and will call for a major withdrawal of US forces from Iraq, shifting the US role from combat to support and advising, according to a source familiar with the deliberations.

Quote Of The Day:
"I'm impressed by the strength of your character and your desire to succeed. And I'm impressed by your strategy."
President Bush in June 2006 in a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki

(Sources: AP, FOXNews, DrudgeReport, WashingtonPost, Center For American Progress, TownHall, TruthOut, NYT, TimesOnline, CNN, PoliticalCartoons.com, Breibart, EditorAndPublisher, WhiteHouse website)