Washington Post Top Online Stories: Thu 11/18/10

The Washington Post lead headline online early Thursday morning says "Ahmed Ghailani, Gitmo detainee, acquitted of all but 1 charge in NY." The paper says the first former Guantanamo Bay detainee to be tried in federal criminal court was found guilty on a single conspiracy charge Wednesday but cleared on 284 other counts, a surprise outcome that will seriously undermine - and perhaps doom - the Obama administration's plans to put other Guantanamo detainees on trial in U.S. civilian courts.

The paper says Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who is expected to declare her historic victory late Wednesday as a write-in candidate in Alaska's closely watched Senate race, will return to office with a new persona as the moderate Republican who fought Sarah Palin and the tea party - and won.

It says Kyle Whitney is headed home for the holidays next week, but unlike 1.6 million Americans who say they plan to fly, he's taking the train.

The paper says seventeen months after veering into bankruptcy, General Motors has become the unlikely darling of Wall Street, poised to complete an initial public offering Thursday that will fetch more than $20 billion and rank as one of the largest in history.

It says Wal-Mart announced plans Wednesday to enter the District for the first time, laying out an aggressive strategy to open four stores and hire 1,200 people in the city by 2012.

And the most popular story says the owners of a Langley Park liquor store who were swept up as part of a broad corruption probe paid bribes to Prince George's County officials and hid $400,000 in cash in their closet, federal prosecutors said in court Tuesday.