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News in Brief: Senators Lieberman, Conrad Not Seeking Re-Election, and More

Senators Lieberman, Conrad Not Seeking Re-Election

Senators Lieberman, Conrad Not Seeking Re-Election

According to The Hill, both Sens. Kent Conrad (D-North Dakota) and Joe Lieberman (I-Connecticut) will not seek re-election in 2012. “[Five-term] Conrad announced Tuesday he will not run for reelection, and Lieberman, a [four-term] Independent who caucuses with Democrats, is expected to announce the same Wednesday afternoon,” the online newspaper reports. Their announcement comes on the heels of the announcement by veteran Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) that she will not seek re-election in 2012.

But with Texas expected to stay solidly Republican, the announcements by these two Democrats have strategists predicting that 2012 could be a fateful year for Democrats, who, come election time, will be defending “23 Senate seats … while the GOP only has 10 up for grabs.”

Attacks in Iraq Kills Seven, Injures More

An explosion in the Diyala Province north of Baghdad killed five and injured 76, reports The New York Times. The suicide attack, which occurred outside of a police building, is the second in two days to intentionally target Iraqi security forces. A separate unrelated attack also in the region killed two people and injured 15. The region, still among the most dangerous in Iraq, was once an al-Qaeda stronghold.

“Social Conscience of Two Administrations” R. Sargent Shriver Dies

R. Sargent Shriver, “a lawyer who served as the social conscience of two administrations, launching the Peace Corps for his brother-in-law, President Kennedy, and leading the ‘war on poverty’ for President Johnson, has died,” reports The Los Angeles Times. He was 95. The founder of VISTA, a domestic version of the Peace Corps.; Head Start, a preschool enrichment program targeting low-income students; and numerous other programs, the devoted public servant was “one of the brightest lights of the greatest generation,” President Obama said in a statement.

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