Tonight on Countdown
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Muslims in Afghanistan and Pakistan were skeptical on Monday about an apparent retraction by Newsweek magazine of a report that U.S. interrogators desecrated the Quran, charging that U.S. pressure was behind the magazine's shift. The report in Newsweek's May 9 issue sparked protests across the Muslim world from Afghanistan, where 16 were killed and more than 100 injured, to Pakistan, India, Indonesia and Gaza.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7870840/Countdown w/ Keith Olbermann broadcasts LIVE at 8 pm et, and the count is never complete without you. Join us.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wrapped up a surprise, one-day visit to Iraq, heading back to Washington Monday after meeting with government officials in Baghdad as well as leaders of Iraq's Kurdish region.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7857851/Seven months before the invasion of Iraq, the head of British foreign intelligence reported to Prime Minister Tony Blair that President Bush wanted to topple Saddam Hussein by military action and warned that in Washington intelligence was "being fixed around the policy," according to notes of a July 23, 2002, meeting with Blair at No. 10 Downing Street.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/12/AR2005051201857.htmlA trial balloon for a Cheney for President run in 2008 is being launched by a surprising source, Washington Post star reporter (and White House insider) Bob Woodward.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000920885Comedian Dave Chappelle wants to set things straight: "I'm not crazy, I'm not smoking crack," he tells Time magazine in an interview more than a week after his hit Comedy Central show was suspended and the rumors started to fly.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7864055/AND Houston's Anything That Floats Festival!
That's some of what we're planning for tonight's show.
Sorry I failed to clue you into the fact that the newsletter was on vacation last week. But the newsletter is now (obviously) back. Tanned, rested, and ready.
Finally,
At the strike of a gong Monday, 12 competitors scrambled up a 46-foot tower covered with Chinese buns and snatched away, relaunching a local tradition after a 26-year break. Secured by safety ropes, the contestants tossed plastic-wrapped buns into bags on their backs as hundreds of spectators watched from below. The climbing sent some buns flying from the tower. The buns - stuffed with lotus seed paste - were divided into three zones, with the higher buns worth more points. The competitor racking up the most points in three minutes was the winner.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BUN_SNATCHING?SITE=NWCN&TEMPLATE=STRANGEHEADS.html&SECTION=HOMENot since seventies porn films have 'buns' achieved such significance.
-- Carey Fox
Countdown Home:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/More:
Top Kremlin operatives and a flamboyant Russian politician reaped millions of dollars in profits under the U.N. oil-for-food program by selling oil that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein allowed them to buy at a deep discount, a Senate investigation has concluded.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7857167/South Korea told North Korea it has spiked regional tensions by taking a key step in preparing ingredients for nuclear bombs and tried to coax the North back into disarmament negotiations, as the two sides met Monday for their first talks in 10 months.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7866504/As Iran appears to move closer to resuming nuclear activities, support has been quietly building in Congress for new U.S. sanctions, including penalties that could affect multinational companies and this country's foreign aid recipients.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7869442/Gunfire rang out Monday in the eastern city where Uzbek security forces fired on protesters last week - a clash that reportedly left as many as 500 people dead - and reports emerged that violence in nearby towns killed several hundred more, further threatening the stability of the government in this key U.S. ally in Central Asia.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7871800/A monk drank poison and was rushed to a hospital Monday, minutes after becoming the first Buddhist clergyman to be convicted of child abuse in Sri Lanka, court officials and police said.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7871147/A 17-year-old boy who disappeared last year was killed during an argument with a friend and then buried at a cemetery, concealed in a woman's freshly dug grave, authorities said.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7872402/At 41, New York City firefighter Tom Westman scorched his competition on "Survivor: Palau" to become the oldest winner of the competitive reality show.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7866572/=========================================
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