- Making News: Tikrit Falls to US Forces
US Marines have occupied Saddam Hussein-s hometown, including a presidential palace. Time magazine correspondent Paul Quinn-Judge, who is in Tikrit, says American troops were met by virtually no local resistance since the elite units of the Republican Guard appear to have dissolved days ago. He calls the action there more like "military closure" than a major battle. - Reporter's Notebook: Tyranny in Cuba
In Cuba, a repressive government has cracked down on peaceful dissenters with show trials that have a decidedly Stalinist look. Three people have been executed for trying to hijack a boat. Why has Castro chosen this moment to crack down? Journalist Ann Louise Bardach, whose latest book is Cuba Confidential: Love and Vengeance in Miami and Havana, offers some answers.
Quinn-Judge-s article, -Eyewitness: Tikrit Falls-
Shadid-s article, -Shiite Clerics Move to Assume Control in Baghdad-