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Politicoreports former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani on Sunday defended New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in the bridge scandal that has consumed his administration, saying his political career would be over if there was any evidence the governor knew about the scheme.

Giuliani, a Republican, said Christie would not have issued such airtight denials that he had any knowledge of the controversy until last week if it were not the truth. He said the Republican governor was in “campaign mode” at the time and was likely to miss such issues while running for reelection, and also while running a complex state government such as that of New Jersey.

“He’s held a press conference; he’s flatly denied it,” Giuliani said on ABC’s “This Week.” “If for some reason it’s not true, the man has put his political career completely at risk. If it turns out there’s some evidence that he knew about it, he’s taken a complete risk and his political career is over.”

UK Telegraph reports the fall of the Iraqi city of Fallujah back into the hands of al-Qaeda has shown the power of the movement's new leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi THE FBI “most wanted” mugshot shows a tough, swarthy figure, his hair in a jailbird crew-cut. The $10 million price on his head, meanwhile, suggests that whoever released him from US custody four years ago may now be regretting it. 

Taken during his years as a detainee at the US-run Camp Bucca in southern Iraq, this is the only known photograph of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the new leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq and Syria. But while he may lack the photogenic qualities of his hero, Osama bin Laden, he is fast becoming the new poster-boy for the global jihadist movement. 

Well-organised and utterly ruthless, the ex-preacher is the driving force behind al-Qaeda’s resurgence throughout Syria and Iraq, putting it at the forefront of the war to topple President Bashar al-Assad and starting a fresh campaign of mayhem against the Western-backed government in Baghdad.

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The Australianreports a leading American divorce mediator will visit Washington this week to offer members of Congress advice on ending the "tiresome bickering" between Republicans and Democrats.

If US tabloids are to be believed, she may need to visit the White House first.

Michelle Obama's extended absence from Washington and a flurry of renewed speculation about the state of the first couple's marriage are threatening to overshadow her 50th birthday party at the White House on Saturday.

Not for the first time in their 22-year marriage the Obamas are approaching what should be a happy family milestone under a cloud of rampant tabloid innuendo, summed up by a National Enquirer headline: "World exclusive: Obama marriage explodes!".

The Enquirer has earned a measure of respectability in Washington with its reporting of political scandals - most notably its exposure of the double life of John Edwards, a former senator and once a Democratic presidential contender.

Yet its so-called bombshell Obama report was based on nothing more substantial than the vague allegations of an unnamed "Oval Office insider" who claimed the first couple "are now sleeping in separate White House bedrooms" - tame stuff compared with the adventures of the president's French counterpart Francois Hollande.

In one sense the report was partly right: Barack Obama returned to Washington from his Christmas break in Hawaii last week while his wife remained in Maui to spend more time with friends, reportedly at a holiday home owned by the media mogul Oprah Winfrey.

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NY DailyNews reports the mother of 16-year-old Iquan Williams won’t ever get to see her son again, but she did get another wish Saturday when a teen was arrested in the killing.

Jahiem Spruill of Bleecker St. was charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon Saturday in the shooting of Iquan Williams a week earlier at a party in Brownsville. It was a party Williams’ parents had begged him not to attend.

Spruill shot Williams in the head during a dispute outside the Prospect Place residence where the party was being held, police sources said.

The argument between the two teens may have been over a neighborhood gang, according to the sources.

Family friends said detectives took Spruill and several other teens into the 73rd Precinct stationhouse for questioning on Friday night.

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