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Two Stories:

Iraqi Deaths Hit New High

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush will meet Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Jordan next week with grim new statistics showing record numbers of Iraqis were killed last month and many more fled the country.

A U.N. report put civilian deaths in October at 3,709 -- 120 a day and up from 3,345 in September. Nearly 420,000 moved to other parts of Iraq since the February bombing of a Shi'ite shrine in Samarra triggered a surge in sectarian attacks.

It said as well as those displaced within Iraq, nearly 100,000 people were fleeing to
Syria and Jordan every month -- proportionally equivalent to a million Americans emigrating each month, depriving the U.S. economy of a city the size of Detroit.

The meeting between Bush and Maliki in the Jordanian capital Amman, a much safer venue than Baghdad, will follow a weekend visit to Iran by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and this week's landmark visit to Iraq by Syria's foreign minister.

They will be the first lengthy talks between Bush and Maliki since Bush pledged a new approach on Iraq after his Democratic opponents took control of the U.S. Congress.

Close to 4,000 people a month. This is horrific.

And indeed, they want to be in a safer venue than Baghdad. We wouldn't want something to happen like what happened to poor Not-Jenna...

First Daughter's Purse Swiped

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (CNN) -- First daughter Barbara Bush's purse was stolen while she was in Argentina with her twin sister, Jenna, a law enforcement source who was briefed on the incident said Tuesday.

The source told CNN that Barbara Bush, 24, was "not in the immediate proximity" of the bag when it was swiped.

Other reports said Bush's purse and cell phone were taken while she was dining in a Buenos Aires restaurant.

The law enforcement source declined to provide additional details to CNN but said that "at no point were the protectees out of visual contact and at no point was there any risk of harm."

Well, thank heavens there was no risk of harm... if only we could provide some sort of protection to Iraqi innocents so they were in no risk of harm.

Oh, wait.

So... which of these stories do you think you'll hear more about in the news today?

(You always hurt the one you cross-post...)