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Daybreak: ‘Gabby Opened Her Eyes’

Plus confidence on Iran, flailing on Lebanon, and more in the news

by
Marc Tracy
January 13, 2011
President and Mrs. Obama last night in Tucson, Arizona.(Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images)
President and Mrs. Obama last night in Tucson, Arizona.(Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images)

• Last night, President Obama deftly used the Giffords attack to call for a heightened, more civil political discourse. He also reported that Rep. Giffords opened her eyes for the first time; indeed, doctors fully expect her to survive. [NYT]

• The administration’s on-and-off engagement with Lebanon left it with few options when the Hezbollah ministers walked out of the government yesterday. [NYT]

• New Israeli intelligence showing Iran’s halting nuclear development—it may not even try to build a bomb in the near future—has eased Israeli and American political pressure for military options. There are talks the week after next. [Reuters]

• Speaking in Qatar, Secretary of State Clinton called on Arab states to fight their own corruption and lack of democratic practices, blaming these for helping feed extremists. [WSJ]

• The German mediator quietly completed two days in Gaza trying to negotiate the freedom of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit. [Haaretz]

• A nine-year-old Gaza girl paralyzed in a 2006 Israeli airstrike as well as her father and brother were granted temporary-resident status so that she can continue to receive medical care. [AP/NYT]

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.