memeorandum: Illegal immigrant rescues boy in desert (Terry Tang/Associated Press)

1:50 PM ET, November 24, 2007

Top Items:

Howard Admits Election Defeat — Australian Prime Minister John Howard has suffered a humiliating election defeat as the opposition Labor Party swept into power. — Mr Howard, who was seeking a fifth term after 11 years of conservative rule, said he had telephoned Labor leader Kevin Rudd to congratulate him on his victory.

Discussion: The Newshoggers, Time, Tim Blair, Chuck Adkins and Middle Earth Journal

Michelle Malkin:

John Howard loses in Australia — Australian PM John Howard, staunch US ally and outspoken critic of jihad and the global spread, lost his re-election bid. He was Australia's second-longest serving prime minister behind Liberal Party founder Sir Robert Menzies. All Americans should mark the end of his tenure with gratitude.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Sydney Morning Herald, Say Anything, BitsBlog, Macsmind and TigerHawk

Tim Johnston / New York Times:

Australia's Prime Minister Defeated After Four Terms — Prime Minister John Howard of Australia suffered a comprehensive defeat today, with a coalition led by his Liberal Party losing its majority in parliament. — After four terms in office, he will be replaced by Kevin Rudd, a Labor Party leader and former diplomat.

Discussion: protein wisdom, Sweetness & Light, Daimnation!, Shakespeare's Sister and PoliBlog (TM)

Rohan Sullivan / Associated Press:

Labor Party wins big in Australia — SYDNEY, Australia - Conservative Prime Minister John Howard suffered a humiliating defeat Saturday at the hands of the left-leaning opposition, whose leader has promised to immediately sign the Kyoto Protocol on global warming and withdraw Australia's combat troops from Iraq.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Group News Blog, EU Referendum, All Spin Zone, DownWithTyranny! and Firedoglake

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

Good riddance to John Howard — (updated below - Update II) — There's a tendency in the U.S. to view the elections in other countries based on the self-centered perspective that the result is always some sort of referendum on the U.S. Hence, all sorts of unwarranted conclusions …

Jules Crittenden:

Pre-9/11 Era — Another one of the original three who stood up, Bush, Blair and Howard, is gone. Australia votes Labor. Good luck with that. — Andrew Bolt's blow by blow. Howard's gracious, and so is Bolt. — Bolt lets readers cry here, and gloat here. — The Australian: Rudd says he'll govern for all.

The Australian:

Rudd says he'll govern for all — AUSTRALIA had looked to the future and had decided the nation must move forward, Prime Minister-elect Kevin Rudd said tonight. — Claiming the election win he said Australia had decided to prepare and plan to make the nation a better place …

Discussion: The Corner, BBC, Xinhua News Agency, The Moderate Voice, Guardian and Telegraph

Barbie Dutter / Telegraph: Labour sweeps to victory in Australian election

Andrew Bolt:
Election '07 - The results come in. (7.45pm: Labor wins)

Discussion: Tim Blair, The Belmont Club and Silent Running

Andy Soltis / New York Post:

'BLAME U.S. FOR 9/11' IDIOTS IN MAJORITY — 'PLOTS' THICKEN IN SHOCKING POLL — Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe the federal government had warnings about 9/11 but decided to ignore them, a national survey found. — And that's not the only conspiracy theory with a huge number of true believers in the United States.

Discussion: michellemalkin.com, JammieWearingFool, Blue Crab Boulevard, Wake up America and Betsy's Page

Michael Kinsley / Washington Post:

Who Needs Experience? — Hillary Clinton declared the other day — apropos of whom, she didn't say, or need to — "We can't afford on-the-job training for our next president." Barack Obama immediately retorted, "My understanding is that she wasn't Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, TalkLeft and Prairie Weather

Terry Tang / Associated Press:

Illegal immigrant rescues boy in desert — PHOENIX - A 9-year-old boy looking for help after his mother crashed their van in the southern Arizona desert was rescued by a man entering the U.S. illegally, who stayed with him until help arrived the next day, an official said.

Discussion: The Impolitic, Chuck Adkins, Wake up America, Booman Tribune, TalkLeft and The Unapologetic Mexican

Faye Fiore / Los Angeles Times:

Does perfection have its price for Romney? — Sure, he's got political weak spots, but his storybook home life is a throwback to 'Father Knows Best.' For voters, though, that may not be a good thing. — MANCHESTER, N.H. — Mitt Romney arrives at his campaign headquarters here 10 minutes early …

Discussion: The Caucus

Terry Eastland / Weekly Standard:
The Huckabee Surge — He's running strong in Iowa, but has he peaked?

Discussion: TownHall Blog

Mark Steyn / Orange County Register:

GOP looks like the party of diverse ideas — Democrats, meanwhile, have got a woman, a black, a Hispanic and a preening metrosexual - and they all think exactly the same. — Recommend — Only five weeks left to the earliest Primary Day in New Hampshire history, and still …

Discussion: Flopping Aces, Blue Crab Boulevard and Betsy's Page

Clancy Chassay / Guardian:

Lebanese army handed power — Lebanon was again plunged into uncertainty yesterday after parliament failed in a fifth attempt to elect a president, and the former Syrian backed-president Emile Lahoud, whose term ended at midnight, passed control of the security services over to the army, declaring a state of emergency.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Washington Post, Outside The Beltway, PoliBlog (TM) and abu muqawama

Gateway Pundit:
Fireworks in Lebanon... Pro-Syrian President Steps Down

Discussion: Right Wing Nut House, The Van Der Galiën Gazette, The Belmont Club, Publius Pundit and Washington Post

From Beirut to the Beltway:
Lahoud hands over security to army (corrected)

Discussion: Blogs of War

Gateway Pundit:

Garry Kasparov Arrested at Russian Rally! — Garry Kasparov seized by police at a rally in Moscow! — Kasparov was forced to the ground and beaten, his assistant Marina Litvinovich said in a telephone interview from outside the police station where he was being held- CNN.

Discussion: Riehl World View

Opinion Journal:

Guns and the Constitution — Is the Second Amendment an individual, or collective, right? — In recent decades, the Supreme Court has discovered any number of new rights not in the explicit text of the Constitution. Now it has the opportunity to validate a right that resides in plain sight …

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard, Betsy's Page and Of Arms and the Law

Los Angeles Times:

35 homes burned in Malibu brush fire — Clouds of smoke rise over Malibu as seen from Thousand Oaks. At least 35 structures have burned in the fire and hundreds more are threatened. — At least 35 homes have been burned and about 200 more are threatened in Malibu as a wind-driven fire …