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Hillary and Barack debated in Hollywood to a crowd you usually see at a Lakers game. The candidates are releasing their 2007 fundraising numbers. Obama has raised $32 million so far in 2008.

>>Malaria - The WHO is reporting that the widespread use of anti-malarial bed nets and artemisinin, a new drug, has sharply reduced malaria deaths in some African countries. Malaria still kills over a million people a year, most of them children, and is crippling the African economy. Send a net, save a life.

>>Chad - Rebels representing the Union of Forces for Democracy from eastern Chad and seeking to drive the president from power, are advancing on N'Djamena. Government troops have been dispatched to confront the 300 vehicle column less than 50 miles from the capital. Five UNHCR vehicles have been hijacked and their offices to the east have twice been entered by armed gunmen. France is deploying 150 additional troops to provide additional protection for French nationals. Rebel groups believe that French troops helped thwart their assault on N'Djamena in 2006. A 3,700-strong EU peacekeeping force, which the rebels also oppose, is set to deploy to the refugee camps in eastern Chad in the next few weeks.

>>Afghanistan - Senior al-Qaeda leader in Afghanistan and star of several al-Qaeda videos, Abu Laith al-Libi, was killed by a U.S. airstrike in Northern Waziristan. Sources indicate that the missle was fired by a drone. Following Canada's declaration that it would withdraw its 2,500 troops from Afghanistan if NATO doesn't deploy 1,000 more troops to Afghanistan, US Sec. of Defense Robert Gates pushed Germany to do so, in what is being reported as an "unusually blunt" exchange. Reportedly, German Minister of Defense Franz Jung plans to announce at NATO defense ministers at the next meeting in Vilnius next Thursday that Germany plans to send a 250-strong "Quick Reaction Force." Germany's rules of engagement, out of step with the rest of the NATO mission, will also alledgedly be part of the discussion.

>>The Internet - Apparently a distressed ship attempting to moor off the coast of Egypt cut the line that has left 75 million with diminished internet services, mainly in the Middle East and India. If you're interested in the cable network that crisscrosses the ocean floor, this is a really cool map.

>>Kenya - Ban Ki-moon is in Kenya to help revitalize the fledgling peace process initiated by Kofi Annan. Four, accused of looting and burning residences and businesses, were killed by police in Eldoret in western Kenya in the wake of the murder of opposition MP David Too. Although the opposition claims that it was a political assasination, evidence points more convincingly to a love triangle

>>Whaling - Japanese ships have resumed whaling in antarctic waters as anti-whaling activists were forced to leave to refuel.

>>Trash - The EU ordered Italy to take out the garbage in Naples. Nearly 250,000 tons of garbage has piled up on the streats. Collectors have stopped because there is no more room at the regional dumps.

• Somalia's Crisis Continues In the Shadow of Darfur - Matthew Cordell
• Secretary General to Visit Kenya - Mark Leon Goldberg

• Swiss AIDS Experts: Unprotected Sex OK for Some
• Navy Tests High-Powered Electromagnetic Railgun
• Bangladesh steps up vigilance as bird flu spreads
• No Serbian violence expected over Kosovo: EU
• Copy China and invest abroad, says Medvedev
• OPEC Pins Hopes on U.S. Soft Landing
• Judge Bans Carnival Float Depicting Naked Holocaust Victims
• EU states oppose Kosovo bid
• India MP held over rival's death
• Mauritania gunmen hit embassy
• China freeze 'has cost billions'
• Rwanda opens stock exchange
• Noriega appeals 'not exhausted'
• New plan for HIV marriage tests
• Kosovo declaration 'not imminent'
• Blizzards and Coal Shortages Strain China's Rail Network
• China Accuses Online Activist of Subversion
• Rights Group Says U.S. Is Too Eager to Endorse Suspect Elections
• China's Inflation Hits American Price Tags
• Zimbabwe: Inflation at New Peak
• In Report, Officers Call for Major Overhaul of NATO
• Israel's Mauritania Embassy Attacked

Posted by Matthew Cordell at 8:44 AM