A referendum to decide the fate of Kirkuk—the northern province contested by Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen, among others—was enshrined in Iraq's 2005 constitution, and was initially scheduled for December 2007. Delayed six months after rival groups were unable to agree on terms, it is now no closer to realization as the deadline looms. UN special envoy to Iraq Staffan de Mistura told AFP: "In December, the question of Kirkuk was a ticking time bomb. The United Nations has stopped the clock."

Even after the humbling of Judith Miller, the Times seems to be up to the same old tricks. The latest propaganda from Michael Gordon is deconstructed by Greg Mitchell of Editor & Publisher, May 5 (links added):

NYT vs McClatchy on Iran's Link to Iraqi Insurgents
NEW YORK — Michael Gordon, the military writer for The New York Times who contributed several false stories about Iraqi WMD in the runup to the U.S. attack on Iraq in 2002, has written several articles in the past year about Iran's alleged training of Iraqi insurgents—or supplying them with weapons to kill Americans. He produced another major report on this subject for today's Times—based solely on unnamed sources—which is at odds with an account from McClatchy’s Baghdad bureau.

Hundreds of youths hurled stones and blocked roads with burning tires May 6 in a second day of protests over food prices in Mogadishu, where the price of corn meal has more than doubled since January and rice has risen from $26 to $47.50 for a 110-pound sack. The protests were sparked by shopkeepers' refusal to accept some bank notes, apparently over fears of counterfeiters. On May 5, tens of thousands took to the streets and five people were killed by government troops and armed shopkeepers. (SomaliNet, AP, May 6) More than a thousand people demonstrated in Dusamareb, central Somalia, May 4 against the US air-strike that killed an alleged al-Qaeda militant and at least 11 others. (VOA, May 4)

Alfonso Chardy writes for the Miami Herald, May 3 (links added):

Militant Cuban exile honored
A beaming Luis Posada Carriles hugged and shook hands with hundreds of supporters late Friday as he arrived at a club in west Miami-Dade fo a dinner in his honor.

Street clashes broke out in the departmental capital of Santa Cruz and towns in the surrounding countryside May 4 as regional authorities declared victory in the autonomy vote. Dozens were injured, including one protester hit by a dynamite blast in the town of Montero. Protesters burned ballot boxes in the town of Yapacani. At least one death was reported—an elderly man affected by tear gas fired by police as protesters clashed with autonomy supporters in Plan Tres Mil, a sprawling poor district of Santa Cruz city where voters were attacked with clubs.

Nine are dead—five agents of the Federal Preventative Police, two municipal police, and two civilians—following three shoot-outs May 2 and 3 in the Mexican city of Culiacán, Sinaloa. Four police agents were also wounded. The confrontations began when police patrols came under attack with AK-47 fire. Two others were killed elsewhere around the city over the weekend. One man was killed with a bullet to the head, while police found an unidentified corpse wrapped in plastic. (La Jornada, Cronica de Hoy, May 4)

In a pre-dawn attack May 1, US missiles destroyed the home of reputed al-Qaeda leader Aden Hashi Ayro in Dusamareeb, Somalia. The attack killed 24 others in the targeted house and nearby homes. "This will not deter us from prosecuting our holy war against Allah's enemy," Sheik Muqtar Robow, a spokesman for Ayro's al-Shabab militia told AP via telephone. "If Ayro is dead, those he trained are still in place and ready to avenge against the enemy of Allah."

One step closer to an October Surprise? From The Telegraph, April 30:

America said it had despatched a second aircraft carrier group to the Gulf on Wednesday, as the State Department branded Iran the world's "most active" state sponsor of terrorism.