A thoroughly uncritical May 6 AP account of the controversial Dead Sea "recovery" program portrays the new progress on the project as a straightforward victory for diplomacy in the interests of ecology. Some excerpts:

GHOR HADITHA, Jordan — Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Arabs are slowly pushing through the tangle of their disputes and suspicions in a race to save a biblical and ecological treasure, the Dead Sea.

In a new video posted on the Internet by al Qaeda's propaganda arm, as-Sahab, the organization's number-two man Ayman al Zawahiri mocks the bill passed by Congress setting a timetable for the pullout of US troops in Iraq. "This bill will deprive us of the opportunity to destroy the American forces which we have caught in a historic trap," Zawahiri says. "We ask Allah that they only get out of it after losing 200,000 to 300,000 killed, in order that we give the spillers of blood in Washington and Europe an unforgettable lesson." (ABC, May 5)

Tens of thousands of people lined the streets of Lahore to cheer on the suspended chief justice, Iftakhar Mohammed Chaudhry. They threw flowers in the path of his motorcade, and banged drums to welcome him. Addressing a crowd of lawyers outside the city's High Court building, Chaudhry urged his supporters to continue their fight to protect the country's independent judiciary. Massive protests have been held almost weekly in major cities across Pakistan since the suspension. Chaudry is appealing his removal, and a judicial panel is reviewing the case. (VOA, May 6) Meanwhile, some 250 masked gunmen calling themselves Taliban set up checkpoints on roads in the Tribal Areas' Bajaur agency along the Afghan border. The gunmen stopped vehicles, confiscated tape players and cell phones, and warned clean-shaven males to grow beards under threat of "strict action." (DPA, May 6)

We hate to exploit this horrific double-tragedy for political propaganda. And maybe if Jocelyn Mercedes understands our point, she won't see it as exploitation—just providing the inevitable context. Ultimately, both of her loved ones were killed by the same thing. From Newsday, May 3:

A Bronx woman who lost her husband to the Iraq War suffered a second devastating loss Thursday when their baby was run over by her car, police said.

Celebrations were held May 5 at the Gereida displaced persons camp in Darfur, to mark the one-year anniversary of the signing of the "Darfur Peace Agreement" (DPA). Significantly, the camp is controlled by the Minni Menawi faction of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), the only rebel group to sign the DPA. The faction's leadership had much to celebrate. Menawi was made an adviser to Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir and moved into a plush Khartoum residence next door to the British Embassy. At the time of the signing last year, diplomats were also celebrating. The UK's international development secretary Hilary Benn heralded the deal as a "very significant agreement which means that the process of bringing peace to Darfur can now begin." But instead, the security situation across Darfur has worsened and the conflict has broadened.

The National Rifle Association is urging the Bush administration to withdraw its support of a bill that would prohibit people on terrorism watch lists from buying firearms. In a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, NRA director Chris Cox said the bill "would allow arbitrary denial of Second Amendment rights based on mere 'suspicions' of a terrorist threat." Current law already denies sales to "illegal" immigrants—and the NRA has no problem with that. (AP, May 4) Meanwhile, the right-wing militia terror networks appear to be rearming—and planing attacks on immigrants. From AP May 1:

One year after the confrontations between inhabitants and Mexico state police at the village of San Salvador Atenco, 174 of the 204 originally detained still face charges, mostly of "attack on the means of communication" (road blocks), and 25 on charges of "kidnapping" (detaining police agents accused of rights violations). None have been sentenced. 28 remain behind bars at the top-security prisons of Altiplano, Santiaguito and Molino de Flores. Another three are fugitives, including América del Valle, daughter the director of the People's Front in Defense of the Land (FPDT), Ignacio del Valle. (El Universal, May 3) Amnesty International marked the anniversary by releasing a statement protesting the lack of progress in probes of rights abuses by the state and federal police, saying that impunity remained "rampant." (El Universal, May 3)

The May 3 attempted hijacking at the Havana airport by two conscripts who killed an officer they had taken hostage may have been a CIA-sponsored adventure, or merely evidence of desperation to get out of Cuba. (A month earlier, three men who tried to hijack a boat with passengers were condemned and summarily executed.) (DPA, BBC, May 4) But given that Luis Posada Carriles was a CIA asset when he carried out his terror campaigns against Cuba (and Nicaragua), its is pretty funny to hear these Capitol Hill anti-Fidelistas accuse Cuba of being a "state sponsor of terrorism." How do they keep a straight face? From UPI May 4: