What a bizarre irony. The international press are playing up the lovefest between the once-implacable enemies who have united to revive the "devolved" government at Stormont for the first time since the power-sharing assembly was suspended in October 2002: new First Minister Ian Paisley of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) (who in 1998 was forcibly ejected from his Europarliament seat for calling Pope John Paul II the "anti-Christ"—to his face!) and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness of Sinn Féin (a former IRA commander who was convicted on "terrorism" charges in 1973). Meanwhile, protesters who gathered outside the Stormont parliament building to condemn the swearing-in ceremony as a sell-out included both veteran IRA militants who decried the betrayal of Republicanism and a group called "Justice for Protestants" made up of Ulster Defence Regiment veterans—paradoxically united by their mutual desire to avoid uniting with each other. Just to add to the fun, a group of anti-war protesters also showed up to protest Tony Blair's appearance at the affair. (Canberra Times, May 10; Belfast Telegraph, May 9; RTE News, May 8; BBC News Profile: Martin McGuinness)

"Socialist villages"? Sounds to us more like keeping a restive population under control to faciliate a stable investment climate for tourism and other capitalist development—akin to the "model villages" the right-wing Guatemalan dictatorship imposed on the Maya peasantry in the '80s. Why does the Beijing regime maintain this propaganda charade? Are we the ony ones who grasp the cognitive dissonance? From McClatchy Newspapers, May 6:

The ugly regime in Uzbekistan is certainly giving Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty all the grist they need for their propaganda mill. May 9:

Umida Niyazova fought for democracy and human rights in her native Uzbekistan.

But from a cage in a Tashkent courtroom on May 8, Niyazova made a "confession" that amounted to an apparent repudiation of all she stands for. She even criticized Human Rights Watch, the U.S.-based rights organization for which she had worked as a translator.

A US helicopter opened fire on an elementary school in Diyala province May 8, killing seven students and wounding three, according to Iraqi security sources and local residents. Iraqi sources said the helicopter was fired on from the ground and hit the school when it returned fire. Spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver said the military was investigating the reports.

An air raid killed 21 civilians in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand May 8, the provincial governor charged. "Twenty-one civilians, including women and children, were killed" in the raid on a village in Sangin district, Gov. Assadullah Wafa said. AlJazeera TV said it was not clear whether the raid was by NATO's International Security Assistance Force or the separate US-led coalition. NATO denied knowledge of the raid.

Transitional government security forces in Somalia have begun seizing and burning women's face veils in Mogadishu in an attempt to stop insurgents disguising themselves in order to carry out attacks. When the city was under the control of the Islamic Courts Union in the second half of 2006, women were ordered to cover their heads; now they are being ordered not to. Police spokesman Ali Nur told Reuters: "Every policeman and government soldier has orders to confiscate veils from veiled women." (AlJazeera, May 9)

Another bloody entry in Ansar al-Islam's bid to extend the "insurgent" terror campaign to Iraq's (relatively) stable Kurdish autonomous zone. The need to mollify these thugs may explain the increasing conservative Islamist tilt of the supposedly secular Kurdish regional authorities of late. From AlJazeera, May 9:

Via the Alternative Information Center, May 6:

Joint report of B'Tselem with HaMoked—Center for the Defence of the Individual, Summary
Utterly Forbidden: The Torture And Ill-Treatment Of Palestinian Detainees
In recent years, Israel has openly admitted that ISA (formerly the General Security Service [Shin Bet]) interrogators employ "exceptional" interrogation methods and "physical pressure" against Palestinian detainees in situations labeled "ticking bombs". B'Tselem and HaMoked—Center for the Defence of the Individual have examined these interrogation methods and the frequency with which they are used, as well as other harmful practices. The report's findings are based on the testimonies of 73 Palestinian residents of the West Bank who were arrested between July 2005 and January 2006 and interrogated by the ISA. Although it is not a representative sample, it does provide a valid indication of the frequency of the reported phenomena.