Headlines

Politics

• Howard Dean: Superdelegates Need To Make Up Their Minds Now
• Dem Debate Reportedly Makes No Impact Among Superdelegates
• ABC Slammed Over Debate Moderation
• Obama Says They’ve Had Enough Debates, Could Deliver Each Other’s “Lines”
• Bloomberg: At Least Next President Will Be An Adult

US

• UK Prime Minister Brown Meets With Bush And The Next President
• Pope Meets With Church Sexual Abuse Victims
• Pope Holds First US Mass

International

• Global Food Crisis Is “Perfect Storm”
• China Overtakes US As Second-Biggest Exporter
• China Braces For Worst Typhoon
• US Set To Back Down On Nuclear Agreement With North Korea
• China Rights Activist Misses Appeal Deadline After Prison Guards Block Lawyer Meeting
• India’s Olympic Torch Security Closes Relay Off To The Public
• Carter Defends Meeting With Hamas
• US Begins Building Wall To Split Baghdad’s Sadr City
• Palestinians Indicate Little Progress In Talks With Israel
• Zimbabwe Election Standoff Escalates With Conspiracy Theory, “Treason” Accusations
• SocGen’s CEO Resigns

Business & Economics

• Bank Of America To Stop Making Student Loans
• New York Times Reports Worst Loss
• Google Beats Wall St. Earnings Estimates, Stock Surges
• Declining Hours, Wages “Stealth Force” Driving Economic Downturn

Top Ten of the Day

Mitt Romney’s top 10 reasons for dropping out of the Republican nomination race:

1. There weren’t as many Osmonds as he thought.
2. Got tired of the corkscrew landings of his campaign plane while under sniper fire.
3. As a lifelong hunter, I didn’t want to miss the start of varmint season.
4. There wasn’t room for two Christian leaders in the presidential race’
5. I was upset that no one bothered to search my passport files.
6. I’d rather get fat, grow a beard and try for the Nobel prize.
7. Got tired of wearing a dark suit and tie, and I wanted to kick back in a light colored suit and tie.
8. When my wife realized I couldn’t win the GOP nomination, my fundraising dried up.
9. I took a bad fall at a campaign rally and broke my hair.
10. And the No. 1 reason Romney dropped out: His campaign relied on a flawed campaign strategy that as Utah goes, so goes the nation.

Photo of the Day

Security was so tight for the Olympic flame relay in New Delhi that the public couldn’t even get close enough to see the event. Officials were determined to avoid the kind of chaos that has marred the relay across the globe, with demonstrators protesting China’s human rights record ahead of the Olympics.

Politics

Howard Dean: Superdelegates Need To Make Up Their Minds Now

“An increasingly firm Howard Dean told CNN again Thursday that he needs superdelegates to say who they’re for – and ‘I need them to say who they’re for starting now. We cannot give up two or three months of active campaigning and healing time,’ the Democratic National Committee Chairman told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. ‘We’ve got to know who our nominee is.’” Dean has previously resisted calling for an end to the Democrat nomination race, saying it’s his job to ensure each candidate receives a fair shake and not influence the nomination. Democrat officials are increasingly worried that the drawn-out battle between Obama and Clinton will diminish the party’s chances in the general election.

Dem Debate Reportedly Makes No Impact Among Superdelegates

“Throughout their contentious debate on Wednesday, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton tried again and again to put Senator Barack Obama on the defensive in a pointed effort, her advisers say, to raise doubts about his electability among a small but powerful audience: the uncommitted superdelegates who will most likely determine the nomination. But although Clinton gave it her best shot in what might have been their final debate, interviews on Thursday with a cross-section of these superdelegates — members of Congress, elected officials and party leaders — showed that none had been persuaded much by her attacks on Obama’s strength as a potential Democratic nominee, his recent gaffes and his relationships with his former pastor and with a onetime member of the Weather Underground.”

ABC Slammed Over Debate Moderation

“ABC News drew both record ratings and a heap of complaints about how Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos moderated the Democratic presidential debate, criticism that Stephanopoulos on Thursday called a sign of how much people care. By mid-afternoon Thursday, more than 15,600 comments were posted on ABC News’ Web site, the tone overwhelmingly negative. A prominent TV critic, Tom Shales of The Washington Post, said Gibson and Stephanopoulos ‘turned in shoddy, despicable performances.’” Gibson and Stephanopoulos focused heavily on recent slip-ups made by Obama, including his comments on working class Americans being “bitter” and his ties to his controversial pastor.

Obama Says They’ve Had Enough Debates, Could Deliver Each Other’s “Lines”

“Sen. Barack Obama suggested Thursday that he doesn’t see any point in having another debate with Democratic rival Sen. Hillary Clinton. Clinton has agreed to a debate next week, but Obama has not accepted the invitation. At an appearance in Raleigh, North Carolina, Obama said he has a lot of campaigning to do in a limited amount of time. Obama said he had agreed to an earlier debate, but Clinton declined that one. ‘I’ll be honest with you, we’ve now had 21,’ he said. ‘It’s not as if we don’t know how to do these things. I could deliver Sen. Clinton’s lines; she could, I’m sure, deliver mine.’”

Bloomberg: At Least Next President Will Be An Adult

“New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Thursday that whoever wins the presidency in November, ‘at least we’ll have an adult in office who can lead and accomplish something.’”

US

UK Prime Minister Brown Meets With Bush And The Next President

“Britain’s ties with the US will ‘remain strong and steadfast’ regardless of whoever wins the US election in November, Gordon Brown, the UK prime minister, has said. Speaking at the White House after talks with George Bush, the US president, Brown also said relations would not alter despite the departure of Tony Blair, Brown’s predecessor.” Brown went on to say,”‘The world owes George Bush a huge debt of gratitude’ for his efforts against terrorists.” Brown also met with all three Presidential candidates.

Pope Meets With Church Sexual Abuse Victims

“Pope Benedict XVI came face to face Thursday with a scandal that has left lasting wounds on the American church, holding an unannounced meeting with several victims of sexual abuse by priests in the Boston area. Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston, who organized the meeting and attended, gave the pope a notebook listing some 1,000 boys and girls who had been abused in the Boston Archdiocese alone going back several decades, a Vatican official said.”

Pope Holds First US Mass

“Appearing before 46,000 people at his first U.S. Mass, Pope Benedict XVI urged Americans to address the anger, alienation and divisiveness in society by deepening their faith in God. Speaking from an altar in the outfield at Nationals Park, the pontiff called the U.S. a land of opportunity but gently reminded his audience that not everyone here has experienced the country’s promise or its good fortune. ‘One thinks of the injustices endured by the Native American peoples and by those brought here forcibly from Africa as slaves,’ he said. ‘Yet hope, hope for the future, is very much a part of the American character.’”

International

Global Food Crisis Is “Perfect Storm”

“‘It’s the worst crisis of its kind in more than 30 years,’ said Jeffrey Sachs, the economist and special adviser to the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki Moon. ‘It’s a big deal, and it’s obviously threatening a lot of governments. There are a number of governments on the ropes and I think there’s more political fallout to come.’ Indeed, as it roils developing nations, the spike in commodity prices - the biggest since the administration of Richard Nixon - has pitted the globe’s poorer south against the relatively wealthy north, adding to demands for reform of rich nations’ farm and environmental policies. But experts say there are few quick fixes to a crisis tied to so many factors, such as strong demand for food from emerging economies like China’s; rising oil prices; and the diversion of food resources to make biofuels.”

Asia

China Overtakes US As Second-Biggest Exporter

“Global trade growth is expected to slow to a six-year low of 4.5 per cent this year but China has overtaken the US as the world’s second-biggest exporter, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) said yesterday.” The world’s biggest exporter is Germany, while the US remains the biggest exporter of services, followed by the UK.

China Braces For Worst Typhoon

“A typhoon bearing down on the southern Chinese resort island of Hainan on Friday is the earliest to threaten the region in decades and may well be the strongest, state media said. Hainan and the neighboring province of Guangdong were braced for Typhoon Neoguri, the first of the year, with almost 22,000 fishing boats called back to harbor as the storm skirted Vietnam.”

US Set To Back Down On Nuclear Agreement With North Korea

“The Bush administration appears to be preparing to back away from a demand that North Korea fully disclose all of its past nuclear weapons activities, in an attempt to preserve a nuclear agreement requiring it to disclose and dismantle the bulk of its nuclear weapons program. As described by administration officials on Thursday, the step would relax a demand for North Korea to admit fully that it supplied Syria with nuclear technology. The United States would also agree to postpone its demand that North Korea provide an immediate and full accounting of its fledgling uranium program.” The administration is trying to salvage the deal with North Korea that has them giving up their nuclear program in return for concessions from the US, including fuel oil and removal from the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism.

China Rights Activist Misses Appeal Deadline After Prison Guards Block Lawyer Meeting

“One of China’s most prominent human rights advocates has missed the deadline to appeal his recent conviction for inciting subversion after prison guards denied him the chance to meet with his lawyer to discuss whether to proceed, his wife and his lawyer said Thursday.” The advocate was sentenced to three years in prison for penning essays critical of the Communist Party.

India’s Olympic Torch Security Closes Relay Off To The Public

“The Olympic torch made a strange and lonely procession through central New Delhi on Thursday, with the event so overshadowed by fears of the anti-Chinese protests that marred its appearances in other cities that the public was not allowed close enough to witness it. The 70-odd Indian athletes and celebrities who carried the torch down the widest avenue in New Delhi, the capital, were outnumbered by thousands of members of the Indian security forces, who stamped out any pomp and excitement, turning the occasion into a tense security operation.”

Middle East

Carter Defends Meeting With Hamas

“Carter is heading on Friday to Syria for talks with Khalid Meshaal, the exiled Hamas leader. It is a personal trip that has drawn fierce rebukes from the White House and Israel. On Thursday, Carter also met a delegation of Hamas leaders from the Gaza Strip in Cairo. Speaking to the media, Carter defended his meetings, calling them necessary in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.”

US Begins Building Wall To Split Baghdad’s Sadr City

“Trying to stem the infiltration of militia fighters, American forces have begun to build a massive concrete wall that will partition Sadr City, the densely populated Shiite neighborhood in the Iraqi capital. The construction, which began Tuesday night, is intended to turn the southern quarter of Sadr City near the international Green Zone into a protected enclave, secured by Iraqi and American forces, where the Iraqi government can undertake reconstruction efforts.”

Palestinians Indicate Little Progress In Talks With Israel

“The Palestinian Authority’s foreign minister on Thursday offered an unusually bleak assessment of the negotiations with Israel and said President Mahmoud Abbas would seek more active American intervention when he meets with President Bush in Washington this month. Riad Malki, the foreign minister and minister of information in the West Bank-based government, told the Foreign Press Association here that the talks on the core issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict had so far yielded ‘no results.’ The Israelis and the Palestinians agreed to the talks at the American-sponsored peace conference at Annapolis, Md., last November. The stated goal was to reach an accord by the end of 2008 based on Mr. Bush’s vision of two states living side by side.”

Africa

Zimbabwe Election Standoff Escalates With Conspiracy Theory, “Treason” Accusations

“The verbal salvos over Zimbabwe’s disputed election escalated Thursday, with the government accusing the opposition of treason, South Africa toughening its position by calling for the release of election results and the Zimbabwean opposition demanding that South Africa bow out as the mediator of the political standoff. Zimbabwe’s government, in a state-run newspaper, said it had uncovered a plot by the opposition to conspire with Britain to topple President Robert Mugabe, who has led the nation since independence 28 years ago. The paper printed a 2,200-word document — which British and opposition officials have dismissed as fake — laying out a plan to ‘bring about change at any cost.’” Zimbabwe has been in disarray since last month’s presidential elections, widely believed to be won by the candidate opposing the despotic President Mugabe. Mugabe has been delaying the release of the vote and taking steps that suggest he is going to try hanging on to power at all costs, including through the use of force.

Europe

SocGen’s CEO Resigns

“Société Générale SA announced the first high-profile casualty of its recent trading scandal, saying Daniel Bouton will step down as the bank’s chief executive officer next month. Though Mr. Bouton will stay on as chairman, the diminishing of his role seems to be an attempt by the bank to draw a line under the embarrassing, €4.9 billion ($7.8 billion) loss it suffered at the hands of a low-level trader.”

Business & Economics

Bank Of America To Stop Making Student Loans

“Bank of America Corp. yesterday said it would no longer offer private student loans, adding to the cascade of lenders pulling back in various parts of the college loan market. The bank, the third-largest student lender in the country, extended $900 million in private student loans last year. Bank of America said it would continue to offer loans that are guaranteed by the federal government, which make up 85 percent of its $6 billion student lending business.”

New York Times Reports Worst Loss

“The New York Times Company, the parent of The New York Times, posted a $335,000 loss in the first quarter — one of the worst periods the company and the newspaper industry have seen — falling far short of both analysts’ expectations and its $23.9 million profit in the quarter a year earlier. The company’s main source of revenue, newspaper advertising in print and online, fell 10.6 percent, the sharpest drop in memory, as the industry suffers the twin blows of an economic downturn and the continuing long-term shift of readers and advertisers to the Internet.”

Google Beats Wall St. Earnings Estimates, Stock Surges

“Google Inc. tweaked its online advertising formula and accelerated its growth outside the United States to produce a first-quarter profit that surpassed analysts’ predictions, alleviating some of the economic worries battering its stock this year. The news, released after the stock market closed Thursday, lifted Google’s recently drooping shares by more than $76, or 17 percent.” Google earned $1.3 billion for the quarter, up 30% from the previous year.

Declining Hours, Wages “Stealth Force” Driving Economic Downturn

“Throughout the country, businesses grappling with declining fortunes are cutting hours for those on their payrolls. The gradual erosion of the paycheck has become a stealth force driving the American economic downturn. Most of the attention has focused on the loss of jobs and the risk of layoffs. But the less-noticeable shrinking of hours and pay for millions of workers around the country appears to be a bigger contributor to the decline, which has already spread from housing and finance to other important areas of the economy. While official unemployment has risen only modestly, to 5.1 percent, the reduction of wages and working hours for those still employed has become a primary cause of distress, pushing many more Americans into a downward spiral, economists say.”