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

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: Salon, Time, Macsmind and Middle Earth Journal

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: Daimnation! and Sweetness & Light

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, Tim Blair, BitsBlog and Riehl World View

Andrew Bolt:

Election '07 - The results come in. (7.45pm: Labor wins) — 5.55pm: Sky News tells us enough to know it's over. Its exit poll says Labor is getting 53 per cent of the vote. — 6.07pm: Laurie Oakes says Liberal campaigners concede Howard is in real trouble in Bennelong. — 6.15pm: Bob Hawke is on Sky News.

Discussion: Tim Blair, The Belmont Club and Silent Running

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

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, EU Referendum and Firedoglake

Barbie Dutter / Telegraph:

Labour sweeps to victory in Australian election — Australian prime minister John Howard's 11 year reign has ended with a landslide election victory for the opposition Labour Party. — Kevin Rudd, the former diplomat, was set to become Australia's 26th prime minister …

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.

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 and abu muqawama

Gateway Pundit:

Fireworks in Lebanon... Pro-Syrian President Steps Down — Fireworks in Lebanon after the Pro-Syrian President steps down... Some 2000 Anti-Lebanese president and pro-government supporters, set fireworks dancing beating drums and shouting 'Lahoud out' as they gathered in a Sunni Muslim …

Discussion: Right Wing Nut House, The Belmont Club and Washington Post

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

Discussion: Blogs of War

Sam F. Ghattas / Associated Press:
Political crisis deepens in Lebanon

Discussion: The American Street, The Van Der Galiën Gazette, Right Voices, Redstate and Publius Pundit

Terry Eastland / Weekly Standard:

The Huckabee Surge — He's running strong in Iowa, but has he peaked? — For Bob Vander Plaats, January 3—the day of the Iowa caucus—can't get here quickly enough. Vander Plaats, chairman of the Mike Huckabee campaign in Iowa, can read the polls, and in the latest surveys …

Discussion: TownHall Blog and Los Angeles Times

The Logan Daily News:

Leland Conner — LOGAN - Leland Lavon Conner, 77, of Logan, passed away Friday, Nov. 16, 2007, as a result of an auto accident in Fairfield County. — He was born May 9, 1930, in Hocking County, son of the late Foster E. and Ida Cullison Conner. Leland was married to Doris Keller Conner, who survives.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Scott Galupo / Washington Times:

Libertarians: the new 'It' faction — It's altogether fitting that the new host of "The Price Is Right" — a game show on which contestants try to guess the going rate of various consumer products — is a free-market enthusiast. — More intriguing is said host's part-time job: libertarian proselytizer.

Discussion: Marginal Revolution

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:

In Bush's Last Year, Modest Domestic Aims — As President Bush looks toward his final year in office, with Democrats controlling Congress and his major domestic initiatives dead on Capitol Hill, he is shifting his agenda to what aides call "kitchen table issues" — small ideas …

Discussion: The Reaction