A.M. Links: The Bill and Barack Show, Al-Qaeda Gone, Baby Shuts Down Airport

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  • President Obama is embracing Bill Clinton for his re-election campaign. "There is no better Democratic ally than President Clinton," said Jim Messina, the President's campaign manager.

  • Al-Qaeda is "essentially gone," U.S. intelligence officials say.  "Affiliates", they warn, remain a threat. "[T]he movement certainly survives, the ideology of the global jihad survives, bin Laden's philosophy, that survives in a variety of places outside of Pakistan," an anonymous U.S. official told the AFP.
  • Gunmen attacked Christian worshippers in Nigeria, killing at least 21. No one took responsibility immediately, but the militant Islamist group Boko Haram is suspected.
  • Chicago police at next month's NATO summit will not enforce a state eavesdropping law that has been used to prosecute those who record police officers. "[W]hile the law is still on the books, it is currently being constitutionally challenged," said Steve Patton, corporation counsel for the city. "[T]he fact [is] that the police are going to have other things to focus on during the summit."
  • Homophobia might mean you're gay, according to new research. "It's important to stress the obvious: Not all those who campaign against gay men and lesbians secretly feel same-sex attractions. But at least some who oppose homosexuality are likely to be individuals struggling against parts of themselves, having themselves been victims of oppression and lack of acceptance," one of the researchers writes in Sunday's New York Times
  • Port Authority cops at Newark Airport overreacted when they shut down a terminal after a baby went through a checkpoint unscreened, according to the TSA.

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