Headlines

Politics

• Last Democrat Debate Focuses On Recent (Mostly Obama) Controversies
• Democrats Increasingly Worried About Long-Term Damage Of Clinton-Obama Rumble
• Obama Slams Carter For Meeting With Hamas

US

• Terrorism Expert: Nuclear Attack On Washington Inevitable In Next 20 Years
• Pope Gets Birthday Party From White House; Talks Terrorism, Iraq In Private With Bush
• Bush Calls For Global Warming Action, Sparse On Details
• Supreme Court Upholds Lethal Injection As Constitutional
• Chemical Weapon Self-Poisoning Part Of Decade-Long Plot

International

• Now Ahmadinejad Claims 9/11 Was Staged
• Israel-Palestinian Fighting Leaves 21 Dead, Including Reuters Cameraman
• UN Secretary General Blasts Zimbabwe Election Result Delay
• Australian Drought Key Driver Behind Doubling Of Rice Prices In Last Three Months
• Free Tibet Demonstrators Storm Chinese Embassy In New Delhi
• France Outlaws Anorexia
• Russia “Annexes” Breakaway Regions Of Georgia

Business & Economics

• Oil Hits New High On Gas Availability Concerns
• GE’s Stunning Earnings Miss A “Credibility Issue” For CEO Immelt
• Yahoo Gets Closer To Outsourcing Search To Google
• Google Facing Deteriorating Advertising Market In Wake Of Financial Meltdown
  

Video of the Day

A Reuters cameraman is videotaping an Israeli tank that opens fire, seconds after which a shell airburst can be seen and the video goes blank. The attack killed the cameraman and two Palestinian civilians.

Politics

Last Democrat Debate Focuses On Recent (Mostly Obama) Controversies

“Senator Barack Obama found himself consistently on the defensive as he and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton met Wednesday night in a tense debate that left him parrying questions and criticism on issues including values, patriotism and his association with onetime radicals from the 1960s. It was the first time the two candidates had shared a debate stage in seven weeks, and it came six days before a primary in Pennsylvania that could determine whether Mrs. Clinton can continue her quest for the Democratic presidential nomination. It could also prove to be the last debate between them.Accordingly, Mrs. Clinton did not let an opportunity pass as she repeatedly challenged Mr. Obama on his record and views — assisted, as it turned out, by vigorous questioning by the two moderators from ABC News, Charles Gibson and George Stephanopolous. The result was arguably one of Mr. Obama’s weakest debate performances.”

Democrats Increasingly Worried About Long-Term Damage Of Clinton-Obama Rumble

“The battle between Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama over whether Mr. Obama belittled voters in small towns appears to have hardened the views of both candidates’ supporters and stirred anxiety among many Democrats about the party’s prospects in the fall. For five days, as Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama have tangled more ferociously than at almost any point in the last year, interviews with voters in Pennsylvania suggested little new movement toward either side as the primary campaign there entered its final week. A snapshot of public opinion, a poll by Quinnipiac University, showed no change in the race from a week ago.”

Obama Slams Carter For Meeting With Hamas

“Sen. Barack Obama on Wednesday criticized former President Carter for meeting with leaders of the Islamic terrorist group Hamas as he tried to reassure Jewish voters that his candidacy isn’t a threat to them or U.S. support for Israel. Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting John McCain earlier in the week called on Obama to repudiate Carter’s meeting. Obama told the group he had a ‘fundamental disagreement’ with Carter, who was rebuffed by Israeli leaders during a peace mission to the Middle East this week. The Illinois senator has been working to reassure Jewish voters nervous about his candidacy after publicity about anti-Israel sentiments expressed by his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and criticism from Hillary Rodham Clinton during a February debate that he hadn’t immediately rejected an endorsement from black Muslim leader Louis Farrakhan.”

US

Terrorism Expert: Nuclear Attack On Washington Inevitable In Next 20 Years

“A [10 kiloton] nuclear device (the same size as the one detonated over Hiroshima in WWII) detonated near the White House would kill roughly 100,000 people and flatten downtown federal buildings, while the radioactive plume from the explosion would likely spread toward the Capitol and into Southeast D.C., contaminating thousands more. ‘It’s inevitable,’ said Cham E. Dallas, director of the Institute for Health Management and Mass Destruction Defense at the University of Georgia, who has charted the potential explosion’s effect in the District and testified before a hearing of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. ‘I think it’s wistful to think that it won’t happen by 20 years.’”

Pope Gets Birthday Party From White House; Talks Terrorism, Iraq In Private With Bush

“President Bush and Pope Benedict XVI agreed Wednesday that terrorism is an unacceptable weapon for any cause or religion, standing strongly united on that issue but divided on others during a day of substance and symbolism at the White House. The festive White House visit was the highlight of the first full day of Benedict’s first trip to the United States as leader of the world’s Roman Catholics. A South Lawn arrival ceremony - which also turned into a celebration for Benedict’s 81st birthday, complete with energetic singing and a several-tiered cake prepared by the White House pastry chef - was followed by 45 minutes of private talks between Bush and Benedict, alone in the Oval Office.”

Bush Calls For Global Warming Action, Sparse On Details

“President Bush on Wednesday called for halting the growth of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 and said Congress — not judges or regulators — should take the lead role in grappling with global warming. Bush, who leaves office in nine months, offered no specific proposals in the address. The steps were immediately dismissed as ‘grossly insufficient’ by the Sierra Club, while a leading Democratic congressman called the speech ‘too little, too late.’”

Supreme Court Upholds Lethal Injection As Constitutional

“The Supreme Court, in a 7-2 ruling, upheld Kentucky’s use of lethal injection as a means of executing prisoners, ruling that the method — used in 35 states — is properly and humanely applied. At issue was whether the most common method of capital punishment can cause excruciating pain for death row inmates, violating the Constitution’s ban on ‘cruel and unusual punishment’ and thereby giving inmates a proper challenge in court.”

Chemical Weapon Self-Poisoning Part Of Decade-Long Plot

“An unemployed graphic designer who authorities believe was nearly killed by ricin was arrested Wednesday on federal charges that he possessed the deadly toxin as part of an ‘exotic idea,’ never carried out, to poison his enemies.
Roger Bergendorff, who authorities allege began making ricin a decade ago, was arrested upon his release from the hospital where he had been treated since Feb. 14. He is charged with possession of a biological toxin and two weapons offenses stemming from materials authorities said were found Feb. 26 and Feb. 28 in his room at an extended-stay motel several blocks off the Las Vegas Strip.”

International

Middle East

Now Ahmadinejad Claims 9/11 Was Staged

“Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cast doubt Wednesday over the U.S. version of the Sept. 11 attacks, calling it a pretext used to invade Afghanistan and Iraq. ‘Four or five years ago, a suspicious event occurred in New York. A building collapsed and they said that 3,000 people had been killed but never published their names,’ Ahmadinejad told Iranians in the holy city of Qom.” Ahmadinejad has repeatedly made claims that the Holocaust never happened and is instead only a pretense for establishing the state of Israel.

Israel-Palestinian Fighting Leaves 21 Dead, Including Reuters Cameraman

“Israeli airstrikes and ground battles with Palestinian militants on Wednesday left 21 dead, most of them Palestinians, according to Palestinian security sources. A Reuters cameraman and two bystanders were killed in an apparent airstrike near El Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, according to Hamas security sources and Palestinian medical sources. Ten other Palestinians — five militants and five civilians — were also killed near El Bureij in an Israeli airstrike, Hamas security sources said.”

Africa

UN Secretary General Blasts Zimbabwe Election Result Delay

“The failure to release the results of last month’s Zimbabwe elections could cause the situation in that country to deteriorate further with ’serious implications’ for its people, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned Wednesday. In unusually blunt remarks during a special U.N. Security Council session, Ban said he was deeply concerned about the uncertainty created by the failure to release the results of the March 29 elections. Tensions have risen and violence has broken out in Zimbabwe after opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai declared victory over incumbent President Robert Mugabe a few days after the voting, based, the opposition said, on results posted outside polling stations. Mugabe has been criticized for delaying the announcement of the results, with some saying he’s stalling the process to remain in power.”

Australia

Australian Drought Key Driver Behind Doubling Of Rice Prices In Last Three Months

“Six long years of drought have taken a toll, reducing Australia’s rice crop by 98 percent. The collapse of Australia’s rice production is one of several factors contributing to a doubling of rice prices in the last three months — increases that have led the world’s largest exporters to restrict exports severely, spurred panicked hoarding in Hong Kong and the Philippines, and set off violent protests in countries including Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Haiti, Indonesia, Italy, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, the Philippines, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Yemen.”

Asia

Free Tibet Demonstrators Storm Chinese Embassy In New Delhi

“A day before the Olympic torch arrived [in New Delhi, India] from Pakistan, dozens of Tibetan protesters wearing yellow ‘Free Tibet’ headbands were arrested Wednesday after they stormed through barricades at the Chinese Embassy, taking heavy security forces in the diplomatic heart of the city by surprise. It was the second embarrassing security breach in two days as India prepared to receive the Olympic torch relay on Thursday. The episode fueled anxiety that the Delhi portion of the relay could be a potentially volatile leg of the Olympic torch’s troubled worldwide tour, which ends in Beijing in August.” Protesters have been plaguing the torch relay, using the Olympics as a platform to raise international awareness of the Tibetan plight. China has brutally occupied Tibet since invading and annexing it in 1951.

Europe

France Outlaws Anorexia

“In the capital of high fashion and ultrathin models, conservative French legislators adopted a pioneering law on Tuesday aimed at stifling a proliferation of Web sites that promote eating disorders with ‘thinspiration’ and starvation tips. The bill, approved by the lower house of Parliament, faces a Senate vote. If passed, it would take aim at any means of mass communication — including magazines and Web sites — that promote eating disorders like anorexia or bulimia with punishments of up to three years in prison and more than $70,000 in fines.”

Russia “Annexes” Breakaway Regions Of Georgia

“Mikhai Saaksashvilli, the president of Georgia, has held an emergency security meeting after Russia announced that it will establish legal links with the state’s breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. David Bakradze, Georgia’s foreign minister, described the move as the legalisation of Russia’s ‘de facto annexation’ of the areas.” Russia is responding to NATO’s commitment that it will eventually allow Georgia to join the alliance. Russia sees NATO’s eastward expansion as a threat that is undermining its influence in the region.

Business & Economics

Oil Hits New High On Gas Availability Concerns

“Crude futures made their first foray past $115 Wednesday, propelled to a new record by concerns about how much gas will be available during the peak summer months. Inventories of gas fell by 5.5 million barrels last week, according to the Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration, a much bigger decline than forecast by analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires.”

GE’s Stunning Earnings Miss A “Credibility Issue” For CEO Immelt

After promising GE’s earnings were “in the bag” in December and reassuring investors on March 13 that the company would make its estimates, CEO Jeffrey Immelt faces a “credibility issue” in the wake of the company stunning the financial world by missing the estimates by nearly 15% and sending the stock plunging. “[Previously] under Mr. Immelt and his predecessor, John F. Welch Jr., G.E. was the kind of business that did not surprise investors and delivered what it had promised, no matter how severe the economic headwinds.”

Yahoo Gets Closer To Outsourcing Search To Google

“Yahoo Inc. moved closer to outsourcing its search advertising to Google Inc. after an initial test of the system yielded what the two firms deemed positive results, people familiar with the matter said. A partnership could give Yahoo some needed leverage as it tries to ward off an unwelcome $42 billion bid from Microsoft Corp. Some view the potential pact as mere gamesmanship, particularly in light of antitrust concerns that a Google-Yahoo linkup would likely raise.”

Google Facing Deteriorating Advertising Market In Wake Of Financial Meltdown

“Google Inc., owner of the most popular search engine, faces a deteriorating market for consumer advertising after incurring a drop in business from financial firms. The subprime mortgage meltdown that spurred the near- collapse of lender Countrywide Financial Corp. and investment bank Bear Stearns Cos. curbed Google’s ad revenue growth in the past few months, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. analyst Douglas Anmuth said. The next decline may come from companies targeting U.S. consumers, whose confidence is at a 26-year low. Google, whose shares plunged 36 percent in the first quarter, may report profit below analysts estimates for a second straight period today, said Dan Chung, chief executive officer of Fred Alger Management Inc.”