Washington Post political correspondent David Broder has kind words for President Barack Obama in in his opinion column Sunday, arguing that it isn't the president's fault the economy is stuck in reverse. But the four-decade-plus veteran of Washington politics offers a startling solution to the president's political and economic woes: March off to war with Iran.

The president, who is "much smarter" and "more inspirational" than any of his opponents, could benefit from a confrontation with Iran because it would strike up a war machine that would pull the US out of economic stagnation, Broder argues. He writes that there are "essentially" two ways that an economy can be grown: Through the natural economic cycle, and through war.

An explosion occurred in Istanbul's Taksim Squake on Sunday morning. Istanbul Police Chief Huseyin Capkin said that 22 people including 12 policemen and 10 civilians were injured in the explosion which occurred at a spot where police officers were waiting at around 10:30 a.m. The injured people were rushed to nearby hospitals. Meanwhile, security forces found a body at the scene. Capkin said that an investigation was under way to determine whether the explosion caused by a suicide bomber. The scene of the attack was cordoned off and tight security measures were taken. Mutlu said about Sunday morning's explosion in the central Taksim Square, "it appears to be a terror act"

Ten years ago today a Palestinian child, aged 12 was killed by Israeli sniper fire. Literally adding insult to injury, the zionists claimed that this incident was ‘staged’ by the Palestinians as a publicity stunt. One often wonders how low the zionist can sink, this was truly one of the lowest levels ever.

Mohamed al-Durrah would have been 22 years old now, perhaps entering his second or third year at university or preparing for marriage, but he was murdered at 12...Mohamed is not the only one…. From the start of the second Intifada in September 2000 until the end of this September, Israel has killed 1859 – one thousand eight hundred fifty nine – children under the age of 18.

No matter how many peace talks are held, no matter what the international community “contribution” is, or what the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah says and promises, Zionism keeps on killing, maiming, stealing… in short, practicing slow motion genocide in Gaza and ethnic cleansing in the West Bank. How many more Muhammad al-Durrahs will face his fate in the next ten years?

Democratic voters are closely divided over whether President Barack Obama should be challenged within the party for a second term in 2012, an Associated Press-Knowledge Networks Poll finds. That glum assessment carries over into the nation at large, which is equally divided over whether Obama should be a one-term president. A real Democratic challenge to Obama seems unlikely at this stage and his re-election bid is a long way off. But the findings underscore how disenchanted his party has grown heading into the congressional elections Tuesday.

The AP-KN poll has tracked a group of people and their views since the beginning of the 2008 presidential campaign. Among all 2008 voters, 51 percent say he deserves to be defeated in November 2012 while 47 percent support his re-election — essentially a tie. Among Democrats, 47 percent say Obama should be challenged for the 2012 nomination and 51 percent say he should not be opposed. Those favoring a contest include most who backed Hillary Rodham Clinton's unsuccessful faceoff against Obama for the 2008 nomination. The poll did not ask if Democrats would support particular challengers.

UK troops face 90 new claims of abuse in Iraq. A specialist team appointed by the government to investigate claims of abuse by British troops in Iraq has received 90 complaints involving 128 Iraqi civilians. The files, relating to allegations between March 2003 and July 2009, have been sent to Geoff White, a former head of Staffordshire CID, who heads the Iraq historic allegations team. The unit, the creation of which was announced in March, comprises 80 staff including military investigators and former Scotland Yard homicide detectives. A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "The team is investigating all alleged cases of abuse by UK service personnel in Iraq and will identify any action that needs to be taken. We anticipate this should take around two years." White has met Phil Shiner, of Public Interest Lawyers, who will begin a case in the high court on Friday on behalf of 142 Iraqis who claim they were abused by British troops in the aftermath of the war to topple Saddam Hussein.

Employing baseless fear mongering about the (no longer existent) ACORN and other liberal groups that are supposedly trying to steal next week's elections, conservative "anti-voter-fraud campaigns are popping up across the country, but their biggest rollouts have tended to be in lower-income areas with large minority populations." From the Illinois Republican Party and Tea Party groups to the right-wing astro-turfing group American Majority Action, a startling number of right-wing groups have rolled out aggressive campaigns to "block Democrats…err, voter fraud, at the polls," as Mother Jones' Suzy Khimm sarcastically noted.

While campaigns and political parties have long dispatched trained poll watchers and election judges to the polls to look for irregularities, this year, conservative groups are turning to grassroots activists with little or no training in thinly-veiled efforts to suppress liberal voter participation. Right-wing blogger Michelle Malkin announced on Fox News that "we are all voter-fraud police now," while American Majority Action lets anyone with an iPhone become a poll watcher with their Voter Fraud app.

[Al Jazeera: Thousands affected in Benin floods -VIDEO]

A total of 21 people have been killed and more than 82,000 have been affected by flooding in Togo in recent months, the government said on Friday. The figures were released as neighbouring Benin continues to battle floods that have hit 680,000 people. In total, the rainy season has seen more than 300 people killed in west and central Africa, with 1.5 million affected.

A statement from Togolese Communications Minister Djimon Ore said the toll given on Friday was a "complete evaluation" put together by teams assembled with the help of the United Nations. A previous toll released over a week ago said about 10 people had been killed and nearly 3,000 affected.

In Benin, an airlift of 1,500 tents arrived on Thursday, with another 1,500 expected on Friday. Almost two-thirds of Benin has been hit by flooding, killing 43 people and leaving nearly 100,000 homeless. There have also been 800 cases of cholera detected across the country, an outbreak that has led to at least seven deaths. In Nigeria, 118 people have died as a result of the flooding.

Examiner: Floods devastate West and Central Africa killing 397 and affecting 1.8 million

With double-digit poll lead, ruling party candidate Dilma Rousseff expected to become country's first female president.

Voting has opened in Brazil for a landmark presidential poll that opinion surveys suggest may see a female candidate being elected the country's president for the first time.

On the eve of Sunday's vote, four opinion polls showed Dilma Rousseff, the candidate of the ruling Workers' party, with a double digit lead over her rival Jose Serra.

Four opinion polls released on Saturday gave Rousseff a lead of between 10 and 13 percentage points, following a televised debate between the candidates late on Friday. Rousseff struck a confident note on Saturday while speaking to reporters.

"I will govern for all Brazilians. There will be no discrimination of parties. I won't govern only for my coalition," she said. [Andre Vargas, communications secretary for the Workers' party, predicted a win for Rousseff with a comfortable margin.] "We should win with a minimum advantage of 10 percentage points and a maximum of 15 points,"[ he said.]

Al Jazeera: Brazil's future

The Forward's Nathan Guttman has a fine piece of reporting up about how the Israeli right is hoping that the Congress will change hands next week. The best part of the piece is where the Congressional Democrats protest, Hey we love Israel just as much, even more! Read this with your eyes open. I know, that's hard. The juice comes at the end. And tell me, will Gary Ackerman have to eat his words, or lose his job, ala Rick Sanchez and Helen Thomas? Will Howard Berman, Henry Waxman, Sander Levin, or Barney Frank speak a word of criticism? Will the Obama administration? And you ask why the Obama administration folded on settlements?

Turkey has termed Israel as the source of Middle East's instability saying the threat which Tel Aviv poses to Ankara has reached its highest level. Amending the country's foreign policy vis-à-vis Tel Aviv, Turkey's National Security Council (MGK) stated that "the region's instability stems from Israeli actions and policy," Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz reported on Saturday. The political footwork, the council said, "could lead to an arms race in the Middle East." The comments come amid Israel's continued refusal to accede to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and its silence on its widely-reported possession of hundreds of nuclear warheads. The MGK also called Israel "a central threat to Turkey." Similar form of addressing was used by Turkey some 60 years ago, Ha'aretz said.

At least 15 people have been injured after a bomb blast rocked a main square in the Turkish business city of Istanbul, the country's media report. The explosion took place at the Taksim Square, located at the European part of the city, a Press TV correspondent reported on Sunday. Police said that the incident reportedly targeted Turkish anti-riot police, adding six of the injured were civilians and the rest were police officers. Two of the wounded people were in serious condition, according to police. The Taksim Square is a major busy shopping and tourist district. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.

Full body scanners at airports could increase your risk of skin cancer, experts warn. The X-ray machines have been brought in at Manchester, Gatwick and Heathrow. But scientists say radiation from the scanners has been underestimated and could be particularly risky for children. They say that the low level beam does deliver a small dose of radiation to the body but because the beam concentrates on the skin - one of the most radiation-sensitive organs of the human body - that dose may be up to 20 times higher than first estimated.

Obama's "scare the Americans into voting Democratic" plan is already in trouble. The official story on Friday October 29th was that an unnamed ally issued a warning for British authorities to be on the lookout for a suspicious package sent from Yemen to Great Britain on a UPS flight. A search of the UPS flighty on the ground in Britain yielded a package containing a printer toner cartridge sprayed with a white substance that looks like plastic Christmas tree snow. To make the "toner cartridge of death" look even scarier, a circuit board was attached to the outside with wires. Careful analysis of the card itself suggests it is a circuit card from a TV set, most likely the tuner, circa 1980s. Note carefully there is no battery to power this object, nor were any detonators found.

But the story gets better! The original claim was that the suspicious package originated in Yemen and flew to Britain on an aircraft owned by UPS, and the media showed us all the video of a UPS aircraft being stopped and searched on the runway in Britain. But there is a problem. There are no UPS aircraft flying in and out of Yemen!

Yemen News Agency: Yemen says UPS planes never take off or land in it
SOTT: Crass Phony Terror Alert Over Printer Cartridges