Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has accused Pakistani agents of being involved in a suicide attack that targeted a group of elite Revolutionary Guards in southeast Iran Sunday that killed at least 35 people. A Pakistani spokesman condemned the attack, which is thought to be the work of the Sunni resistance group Jundullah. He refuted the claim that Jundullah's leader is in Pakistan. "We were informed that some security agents in Pakistan are co-operating with the main elements of this terrorist incident," Ahmadinejad said to the state’s semi-official Fars news agency. He demanded the criminals from Pakistan, and said Pakistan must apprehend those who planned the attack and shouldn’t allow terrorists to use its land. Earlier, an Iranian official blamed "U.S. action" for contributing to the attack. Jundallah says it's fighting against the political oppression of Iran's Sunni minority. Five Revolutionary Guards were killed by the bomb, and the group has vowed revenge.

As Afghanistan awaits a recount of the disputed Aug. 20 elections and President Hamid Karzai takes a hard line on the possibility of a runoff, the White House has signaled it will hold off on its decision to send more troops to the area. The president's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, cited his concern for a secure Afghanistan administration to support the increase in troops, and suggested that a preemptive surge in troops would be "irresponsible" and "reckless." His words echoed Senator John Kerry's advice in his recent spot on Face the Nation. Karzai won a majority vote in an August election that was marred by fraud. The White House is reportedly unsupportive of Karzai, whose government and family have been accused of corruption. If the recount shows that Karzai received less than 50 percent of the vote, it will trigger a runoff, though Karzai's camp has already suggested that it won't accept one.

U.S. prosecutors are saying that the wiretapping of Raj Rajaratnam, the Galleon Group hedge-fund chief accused of insider trading, marks a new beginning for the use of the tactic in sussing out future Wall Street crime. The U.S. attorney in Manhattan says that just like with investigations into organized crime, drug syndicates, and terrorism, wiretaps will loom large in future cases. Sri Lankan native Rajaratnam is accused of being the ringleader of a group that included IBM and Intel executives and profited by as much as $20 million in improper gains.

A preliminary probe into two explosions in southern Lebanon seemed to indicate that Israel had planted spy gear in Lebanese territory, a violation of a cease-fire agreement between the two countries. The explosions, according to the UNIFIL peacekeeping force, were caused by the detonation of two Israeli underground sensor devices, apparently planted during the 2006 war with Hezbollah. Though UNIFIL is still investigating the reason behind the detonation, a Lebanese official said they were activated remotely from Israel after being discovered by Lebanese security forces. Israel didn’t comment specifically on the Lebanese accusations, but an Israeli military statement claimed that the explosions proved a Hezbollah presence in southern Lebanon. Israel also came under fire from UNIFIL for sending drones over the blast area while the peacekeeping force and the Lebanese army were investigating on-site.

Pakistani troops attacked Taliban rebel bases from the air on Sunday, but the Islamist militants put up strong resistance. More than 100,000 people have left South Waziristan, the border region, which U.S. officials have called the most dangerous place on earth, as it has become a last refuge for fighters linked to the Taliban or al Qaeda. After Sunday’s heightened offensive, 60 militants and five soldiers are dead, according to Pakistani sources. Twenty-eight thousand Pakistani troops have been sent to attack approximately 10,000 Taliban militants blamed for more than 2,250 deaths in the past two years and a recent escalation of attacks against the nation. Spokespeople on both sides of the conflict tried to project confidence, and representatives of the Taliban warned of consequences for supporters of Barack Obama: “The government has put the country’s sovereignty at stake to please Obama,” said spokesman Azam Tariq, and “we’ll attack his well-wishers everywhere.”

A Minnesota woman is the most recent death following a spiritual retreat that took place on Oct. 8 at Angel Valley Retreat Center, located just outside of Sedona, Arizona. Participants paid between $9,000 and $10,000 to attend Oprah-approved self-help expert James Arthur Ray's "Spiritual Warrior" retreat. Spanning five days and including a 36-hour fast, the retreat concluded with two hours spent in a makeshift sweat lodge, presumably a purification ritual. Twenty-one of the nearly 60 participants were taken to hospitals following the sweat-in; two were declared dead upon arrival. Liz Neuman, 49, was a follower of Ray's, having attended and supported his events in the past. Her family is planning a lawsuit, maintaining that proper measures were not taken to prevent Neuman's death.

Baja California is bracing itself for what is shaping up to be the strongest eastern North Pacific storm to hit in a decade. Hurricane Rick, a Category 5 hurricane, is making its way over parts of Mexico, threatening to veer into resorts on the Baja California Peninsula by midweek, though forecasters say it could weaken to a Category 2 before hitting land. On Sunday, winds were clocked at 160 miles per hour, a slight drop from its peak of 180 miles per hour. As of late Sunday, the eye of the storm hovered about 450 miles south of resort town Cabo San Lucas. Local authorities have planned to open storm shelters in anticipation of evacuations. Forecasters say the storm will first touch land in Cabo, disrupting a fishing tournament schedule for the area. "Rick is probably going to go into the record books as one of the most rapidly intensifying hurricanes," a meteorologist said.

The Washington Post’s infamous journalist-lobbyist dinners are back in the news. After the media caught wind of an epic ethics violation in the making—the dinners were promoted as an “off-the-record” schmooze session between Post journalists and DC insiders—the events were abruptly canceled, and general manager Charles Pelton was forced to step down for devising the promotion. Initially, Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli, whose reporters would have attended the dinners, avoided the controversy by claiming not to have known that the events were being sold as “off-the-record.” Today’s New York Times features a correction to this part of the story, having received a letter Brauchli sent to Pelton stating that he knew the nature of the events, and that the Times had “misunderstood” him. “I was aware, as I have said since July 2, that some materials described the proposed salon dinner as an off-the-record event,” said Brauchli on Saturday. “As I have also said before, I should have insisted that the language be changed before it surfaced in any marketing material."

The “balloon boy” story popped wide open on Sunday when the Colorado sheriff who had been investigating the incident held a press conference stating the whole thing was a hoax. “It was a publicity stunt,” Larimer County Sherriff Jim Alderden told reporters, “and we believe we have evidence to indicate that this was a publicity stunt in hopes to better market themselves for a reality show.” The Heene family, whose son Falcon was said to be inside an out-of-control weather balloon that floated above northern Colorado for several hours on Friday, could face several charges, including conspiracy, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, filing a false report, and attempting to influence a public servant. The Heenes, one-time participants in the ABC television show Wife Swap, have emphatically denied that the incident was a hoax, despite accusations from father Richard’s former assistant.

Who's the real bully in the war of words between the White House and Fox News? In a public battle playing out over political talk shows on Sunday, both are pointing fingers at the other. White House Communications Director Anita Dunn recently dismissed the network, saying that it is "like a wing of the Republican Party," and Obama eschewed Fox News Sunday when he appeared on five other morning news shows last month. The White House seems to have grown particularly sensitive to Fox after its recent coverage of health-care demonstrations, Van Jones, and ACORN. Fox executives penned a public letter that stated the White House was getting sidetracked from the country's real issues since members of the administration are "declar[ing] war" on the network. Fox News regular Karl Rove said it was "undignified" of the president to get involved in criticizing the network. On Sunday, Rahm Emanuel and David Axelrod reiterated that the administration doesn’t really view Fox News as a news organization. Though Fox had earlier accused the White House of freezing them out, David Axelrod said on ABC's This Week that administration officials are open to appearing on the network in the future.

Despite promises from Barack Obama that health-care legislation would be passed out in the open for all to see, the senators working on the overhaul bill have returned to negotiate behind closed doors. It is a familiar move for Washington but one that runs against the president's pledge. Beginning last Wednesday and moving into next week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senators Chris Dodd and Max Baucus, along with the president's top aides, have sat at a table, seeking to reconcile the two competing health-care bills into one. Said House Minority Leader John Boehner, "This bill is being written in the dark of night...the president ought to keep his promise to the American people and open this process up."

Where are the wild things? At the top of the box-office heap, for now. Warner Bros. execs, who weren’t sure what to expect from the movie and its imaginative director, are probably having a wild rumpus right now as the Spike Jonze-helmed adaptation of the beloved children’s book took in a strong $33 million this weekend, and an overall B+ Cinemascore. With Jonze’s award-winning pedigree and the movie’s dark themes in mind, the studio chose to focus its marketing campaign on adults, and the strategy paid off, with a $660,000 gross from the Thursday midnight shows alone. Coming in second was the Jamie Foxx thriller Law Abiding Citizen, with a $21 million bow, followed by Paranormal Activity ($20 million in a wider release), Couples Retreat ($18.5 million) and Stepfather ($11.5 million). At a $130 million total, the box office was up 35 percent from last year.

After a reporting trip gone unbelievably wrong, one journalist came back with the story of a lifetime. New York Times reporter David Rohde and two Afghan colleagues spent seven months and 10 days in captivity after being taken hostage by the Taliban, and now Rohde is chronicling their capture, imprisonment, and eventual escape. The capture took place during a trip to meet with a Taliban commander, and Rohde said he had been warned of the potential risks: “Nothing is 100 percent,” a colleague told him beforehand, “you only die once.” During the drive, their car was surrounded by a group of men who beat them with guns and took the three men hostage. “I thought of my wife and family and was overcome with shame. An interview that seemed crucial hours earlier now seemed absurd and reckless,” he said. After months with extremist captors—who treated him as unclean for his lack of faith in Islam—Rohde concluded that the Taliban militants were even more extreme than he had originally thought. “They wanted to create a fundamentalist Islamic emirate with al Qaeda that spanned the Muslim world,” he said in the first of the five-part series.

Law-enforcement officials in Los Angeles have announced that they plan on cracking down on marijuana dispensaries, the clubs that have sprouted up all over the city since 2002 and provide pot for those who have been prescribed the drug by a doctor. The police will set their sights on dispensaries that are turning a profit, a violation, according to the newly elected city attorney, of state laws that only allow clubs to operate on a nonprofit basis. Whatever the result of the increased attention and potential prosecution, the L.A. raids will be watched closely throughout the country as a sign of the direction of drug policy nationwide.

How is Levi Johnston preparing for his Playgirl photo shoot coming next month? According to Johnston's physical trainer, Bristol Palin's ex is killing his own food. "Moose meat is very good for you, high in protein and very lean," the trainer told People magazine. "He's an avid hunter, so he has his own." Johnston is hitting the gym six days a week, three hours a day. "I know that's something he wants to do and we're having fun training," the trainer added. "We're looking forward to revealing all his hard work!"

After beating the Anaheim Angels last night, the New York Yankees may be well on their way to yet another World Series—the game leaves the team with a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven ALCS. The victory was hard won, coming at the end of a 13-inning game, five of which took place in icy rain. Long innings of deadlock were eventually interrupted by postseason star Alex Rodriguez’s last-minute heroics in the form of an 11th-inning home run. “He's been clutch,” said Mariano Rivera, “He's just doing what he's supposed to do. That doesn't surprise me from him.” Rivera threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings and the game was won when Yankee Jerry Hairston Jr. got a walk on an Angels' error.

Journalist Mazair Bahari had been reporting from Iran for a decade when he was arrested in the wake of the contested re-election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June. Humanitarian considerations may have played a role in his release from prison, as Bahari is expecting his first child October 26, and the mother has suffered serious health complications. The Wall Street Journal reported that the reporter’s case was raised when the U.S. and Iran held talks in Geneva recently. Bahari is an award-winning filmmaker, and had a solid reputation for balanced reporting while working as a correspondent in Iran.

Three things scare Democrats as they look toward the 2010 elections, according to The Washington Post's Dan Balz: Populist anger from conservatives, a loss of love from the country's independents, and burgeoning animosity from the left. According to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, these problems for the Democrats don't spell immediate success for Republicans. He said of voters: "They're more skeptical of Republicans than they were in '93 and '94. The aftereffect of '06 and '08 is there's not a rush to Republicans." According to strategists, the possibility of an economic recovery cushions the Democrats' chances in next year's elections.

Sen. John Kerry said Saturday it would be "irresponsible" for President Obama to send more troops to Afghanistan while the country's presidential elections are still undecided. "Look, it would be entirely irresponsible for the president of the United States to commit more troops to this country, when we don't even have an election finished and know who the president is and what kind of government we're working in," said Kerry, chair of the Senate Foregin Relations Committee, speaking from Kabul. Allegations of election fraud have left the country in political uncertainty, and Taliban insurgents pose a considerable threat to the government’s stability as well. The U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal has recommended sending another 40,000 troops. Kerry's interview with CNN airs Sunday on State of the Union.

France's new favorite hobby is following the twists and turns in the case of a double-murder suspect who escaped prison last month by way of a cardboard box. The alleged killer, Jean-Pierre Treiber, is an accomplished woodsman who has evaded police so far and sent letters to a girlfriend mocking the futile attempts of pursuers to capture him. In one note, Treiber, who is accused of poisoning a couple in 2004 to steal their credit cards, wrote, "I have swapped one prison for another, larger one… At the moment I am in a very beautiful forest, I think all the different species of trees are here and it's really very lovely. It is nice with the mist and the deer and the boar." Treiber's boasts and his successful evasion have stoked immense media interest and captivated the French public.

Colorado officials announced Saturday night that criminal charges will be filed against the father whose balloon captivated a nation last week, believing that a six-year-old boy was board. Whatever the truth is, one of these guys is going to come out looking pretty terrible. A former assistant to Richard Heene, father of balloon boy Falcon Heene, has offered a long narrative of his former boss’ tyrannical eccentricity in his quest to get another TV show after his appearance on Wife Swap. In a post for Gawker, the assistant and self-described web entrepreneur, Robert Thomas, alleges that Heene planned to manufacture a UFO controversy “bigger than Roswell,” and to create show episodes that would “shock people and maximize his exposure.” Thomas says it’s impossible that 6-year-old Falcon could hide in the tiny Heene attic, and furthermore, that given the family’s lack of discipline, Falcon would have never had the inclination to hide from punishment even if he could. (In what some suspected was an unintentional slip, Falcon told CNN, “we did it for the show.”)

After a fresh suicide bombing in Iran, at least 29 people and five commanders in the military’s Revolutionary Guard are dead, a loss the Guard is blaming in part on the U.S. and Britain. A statement from the Revolutionary Guards read, “Surely foreign elements, particularly those linked to the global arrogance”—a term the Guardian calls “regime code” for the U.S. and Britain—“were involved in this attack.” It is unclear if the blast was the work of a single suicide bomber or multiple parties, though suspicion is largely placed on Jundallah, a militant Sunni organization responsible for a number of past bombings in the region. The attack comes a day before Iran will meet for talks regarding its nuclear program.

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said Sunday that any decision about sending more troops to Afghanistan would have to first carefully weigh the soundness and stability of the Afghan government. Speaking on CNN’s State of the Union, Emanuel said that it would be “reckless” to commit more troops to Afghanistan without making a “thorough analysis” of the Afghan government’s ability to match that commitment. “The question,” said Emanuel, “is not how many troops you have, but whether in fact there’s an Afghan partner.” Emanuel’s comments paralleled similar statements made earlier this week by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry. Emanuel also touched on the other hot topic in the Obama administration—Fox News. “It’s not a news organization so much as it has a perspective, and that’s a different take…it’s important not to have the CNN’s and the others of the world being led and following Fox, as if what they’re trying to do is a legitimate news organization,” Emanuel said.