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Three suicide bombers shattered a day of prayers at two Shiite mosques and at a religious procession Friday, killing at least 27 people and injuring dozens on the eve of Shiite Islam's most important holiday, officials said. The bombings recalled deadly explosions on the Ashoura holiday a year ago that killed at least 181 during the religious festival. The first blast occurred in Baghdad's southern Dora neighborhood near the al-Khadimain mosque and killed at least 15, Police Capt. Falah al-Mahdawi said. Another 20 were injured.

What is this guy's problem? Everytime I've seen him as a FOX guest, he is ridiculing someone's opinion. His role seems to be to laugh at the other opinion. Rarely have I heard him voice his own solution. When he has, he is not smiling and joking then. He seems to feel that, if he invited to comment, then his primary role is to make fun of the other opinion. Other than comic relief, what value does he bring to the discussion?

Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter announced today that he has Hodgkin's disease but expects to continue to work in the Senate while being treated. "I have beaten a brain tumor, bypass heart surgery and many tough political opponents and I'm going to beat this, too," Specter said in a statement. Specter will receive chemotherapy every two weeks for up to 32 weeks at the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania, a release from his office said. Hodgkin's is a rare lymphoma, accounting for less than 1 percent of all cancer cases in the United States. It can occur...

News reports have been pretty quiet today. I'm still interested in guessing about how many marginal ballplayers have mananged to hang onto an MLB roster spot, and thus add to their MLB player's pension. If anyone has an incentive to use steroids, those marginal guys have a huge reason to mess around. Their pension is at stake.

Did Mike Wallace say that more on the Canseco book was going to be broadcast this Wednesdy? I hope so. Many things may develop in 3 days.

The primal scream emitted by Howard Dean following his third-place finish in Iowa — dubbed the "I Have A Scream" speech — has quickly gained cult-like status on the Web

Jason Giambi finally met with the media today, almost two and a half months after the San Francisco Chronicle published the leaked BALCO grand jury testimony in which he confessed to using steroids during the 2001-2003 seasons. For those with the technology to do so, you can find the video of the press conference here. I want you to watch that piece on "60 Minutes" this Sunday, not for Canseco, but for Howard Bryant.

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA 'I DIDN'T quite get what he was talking about, but it sounded good," said Mu sayib bin Zayn after an election rally in a luxury hotels. "Next time, I am sure, I will understand more." Musayib, an 83-year-old former merchant, had been listening to one of the scores of candidates hoping to win a seat in the Saudi capital's municipal council in this week's elections. Saudi Arabia raised eyebrows all around last year when it announced the election plans. Conservatives feared that even limited municipal elections would lead to the spread of "the disease of democracy" into...

THIS week, Saudi Arabia hosts the largest ever international conference on counter- terrorism. At last. Almost any Arab leader will tell you that the most urgent threat the Arab states face is terrorism. Those in the West who see Arabs as exporters of terrorism forget that Arabs are also its biggest victims — nearly a quarter of a million deaths over the past quarter-century. In this grim accounting, the 11,000-plus lives lost in Iraq over the past 18 months are added to 150,000 killings over the years in Algeria, at least 25,000 in Egypt since 1980 and more in virtually...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Insurgents struck back with a vengeance following a post-election lull, waylaying a minibus carrying new Iraqi army recruits, firing on Iraqis heading for work at a U.S. base and gunning down an Iraqi soldier in the capital, officials said Thursday. Two U.S. Marines were killed in action. At least 20 people, including the Marines, died in insurgent-related incidents starting Wednesday night, according to U.S. and Iraqi reports. Insurgents had eased up on attacks following Sunday's elections, when American and Iraqi forces imposed sweeping security measures to protect the voters.

OMAHA, Neb. -- Gas for 18 cents a gallon sounds too good to be true. Briefly, it wasn't. Astonished customers at a self-serve Shell station in Omaha on Wednesday found unleaded regular selling for that price. It seems Carolyn Folsom misplaced the decimal point when she was typing the gas prices into a computer. She helps her father and brother run the service station. The price was supposed to be $1.89. Her father fixed the mistake, but not before about 500 gallons had been sold at the cut-rate price.

Portability is a familiar concept in the NFL. Television-network villages, tons of bulky football equipment, and entire teams journey weekly from city to city. For Super Bowl XXXIX, however, the cutting-edge league is experimenting with something new. Like so many Port-a-Potties, 3,500 hotel rooms will be whisked into town before the big game and moved out again the day after it concludes. At least one-fifth of all Super Bowl-related rooms in and around Jacksonville next week will be located on five luxury cruise ships that will dock on the St. John's River, not far from Alltel Stadium, the site of...

PITTSBURGH -- In Pennsylvania, either you're an Eagles fan or a Steelers fan -- not both. This year, however, the road to the Super Bowl in Jacksonville runs along the Pennsylvania Turnpike. COMMENTARY Peek at the Week: Eagles must overcome streak, Falcons by Clark Judge • What's Your Take? Tell Clark your opinion! Twirl a Steelers Terrible Towel east of state capitol Harrisburg, and you're liable to get it wrapped around your neck. Wear a green No. 5 Donovan McNabb jersey west of State College, and you risk being doused with a Rolling Rock. This clash of styles and loyalties...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- The Iraqi government pledged Saturday it would do everything in its power to protect voters from insurgent attacks during this month's national elections, as militants announced they'd killed 15 captive Iraqi National Guardsmen for cooperating with the Americans. Eight other Iraqi guardsmen and an Iraqi civilian were injured Saturday when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt near the gate of a military camp near Hillah, Iraqi office said. Guerrillas in the northern city of Mosul blasted a building to be used as a polling station with machine gun and rocket propelled grenade fire Saturday, injuring...

The best to all in my circumstances. "MAY your GOOD days always exceed your bad days." and "May your BAD days give you reason to say hello to someone you have taken for granted."

EXCLUSIVE Paula Headley dressed for her job in Midtown — wearing a filthy blanket and a pathetic look on her tear-streaked face. Then she headed home at the end of a busy day — clad in a casual-chic jogging outfit and a warm hat. Meet the Fifth Avenue faker — a fixture for four years on the famous thoroughfare, where she begs change from high-fashion shoppers. Last Saturday, camped out in front of the Louis Vuitton store, it took her only 20 minutes to collect $18 in bills, several dollars more in coins and one cup of cocoa from a...

Phil Donahue--what a typical eye-blinking, head rolling KNOW-it-ALL. President Bush should apologize to the world for invading Iraq, is what he believes. Donahue--another media person who sees no problems with fascists and dictators. Donahue is a man who stands ABOVE all problems. What a fool.

..."on Baghdad's Haifa Street, a few blocks away from the Green Zone, gunmen who made no attempt to hide their faces dragged a senior election official and his bodyguards from their car, forced them to kneel on the busy street and shot them dead.

A series of pictures taken by an AP photographer show three pistol-wielding gunmen, who had earlier stopped a car carrying the election officials and dragged them into the middle of Haifa Street in the midst of morning traffic. ... In the dramatic photo sequence one of the captives is shown lying on his side on the pavement, while a second is on his knees nearby in the street. The gunmen casually display their handguns as they shoot the two men. Both of the victims shown in the sequence wore traditional Arab headscarfs. In contrast, the attackers were bareheaded and apparently...

Pedro Martinez has got a wee bit of explaining to do. A big snub by the Mets' new ace toward his little sidekick has left 28-inch-tall Nelson de la Rosa steaming-mad - and vowing to stick with the Boston Red Sox rather than turn into a Mini-Met. "He broke my heart," de la Rosa told the Daily News yesterday. "That's not right what he said about me."