Cut to the News . . . Your Daily News Briefing
Thursday, February 18, 2010 
Top Breaking News
This Morning's Top 25:
Leading The News
Two More Top Taliban Leaders Arrested . . . Taliban’s “shadow governors” for two provinces in northern Afghanistan detained. New York Times
Plot Thickens in Dubai Killing . . . Furor over killing of senior Hamas official escalates. British PM orders investigation. The Independent
Vast Cyber Attack Uncovered . . . Targets data, e-mails and credit-card transactions at almost 2,500 companies. Washington Post
Politics
Washington Post
Enviros Cooling on Obama . . . President’s embrace of nuclear power disappoints. Action on environmental issues slows.
New York Times
GOP Wants Televised Jobs Debate . . . House Republican leaders challenge Dems to a public discussion about employment. POLITICO
Hastert's Perk Costs Taxpayers $1M . . . Former House speaker has taxpayer-funded an office and staff thanks to little-known perk given ex-speakers. Chicago Tribune
Well Hello Dalai! . . . Obama to meet with Dalai Lama today after stiffing him last year. USA Today
National Security
Marines Report Taliban Resistance . . .
Fighting intensifies in two areas of Marjah in Afghanistan, while some normality returns in the north.
The Guardian
Taliban Ammo Running Low . . . Taliban militants battling troops in southern Afghanistan, are running out of ammunition, Nato officials say. BBC
Errors Led to Ambush Deaths of Five Troops . . . Scathing report says senior officers were not at Afghan post and those on hand were ineffective. McClatchy Newspapers
U.S. Officers Report Lost Guns . . .
Homeland Security officers lost nearly 200 guns in unsecure areas such as public restrooms.
USA Today
U.S. Reaches Out to Syria . . . Washington's top career diplomat meets with President Bashar Assad in Damascus, ending five year freeze. Washington Times
Illinois Town Glad to be Next Gitmo . . . Obama wants to ship Guantanamo Bay detainees to a rural Illinois state prison. They'll take them. Christian Science Monitor
Money
States Sink in Benefit Hole . . . State governments face a trillion-dollar shortfall on pension, health-care and other retirement benefit obligations.
Wall Street Journal
Role Adjustment . . . Women are not only contributing more to the household bottom line - they are increasingly the larger, or even sole, breadwinner. Boston Globe
U.S. to Press China on Yuan . . . China's undervalued currency is emerging as a top U.S. concern. Wall Street Journal
Retirees Trade Work for Rent at Parks . . . Itinerant army of retirees is realizing dreams of life on the road, a boon to struggling parks. New York Times
International
Top UN Climate Official Resigns . . . Yvo de Boer resigning after nearly four years. Failed to secure new global warming deal in Copenhagen.
Associated Press
Bomb Kills 29 in Pakistan . . . Blast at a mosque in Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt as U.S. Envoy visits. Associated Press
U.S. Indicts Merchant of Death . . . International arms dealer Viktor Bout fuels bloody conflicts worldwide, but Thailand won't extradite him. Washington Times
Golden Bough Found in Italy . . . Archaeologists claim to have found a stone enclosure which once protected the legendary "Golden Bough." Daily Telegraph
You Must Also Know . . .
Eight Missionaries Freed in Haiti . . . Eight of 10 held in Haiti on child kidnapping charges were released and are back in U.S. McClatchy Newspapers
Tiger Woods to End Silence . . . Will begin to "make amends" Friday for the sex scandal that sent him into hiding for three months. Associated Press
Almost Half of Primates Face Extinction . . . Of 634 primate species, 48 percent are on the IUCN's 'red list' of animals under threat. The Guardian
Promise in Medical Pot . . . New research shows marijuana can significantly relieve neuropathic pain and reduce muscle spasms in MS patients. Los Angeles Times
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