Headlines

Politics

• With Tomorrow’s Primary Potentially Ending The Race, Clinton & Obama Get Nasty(er)
• Obama Damage Stabilizes In Gallup Daily Poll
• McCain Attacks Obama Over Ties To Domestic Terrorist
• McCain Seizes On Hamas Comments About Obama

US

• Over 30 Shot Over The Weekend In Chicago
• Pope Blesses Ground Zero, Prays For Peace
• 10,000 Celebrate Pot Day At Colorado University
• Most Think Oil Is Running Out, Americans Think Government Is “Out Of Touch”
• Chinese Protest CNN “Goons And Thugs” Comments, Deliver Death Threats
• Danica Patrick Becomes First Woman To Win IndyCar Race (Video)

International

• UN Head Calls On World To Increase Food Production
• Prince William Criticized For RAF Helicopter Stunt In Girlfriend’s Backyard
• Iraq PM: We Cannot Become The New Somalia
• US Seeks To Expand Fight Into Pakistan
• Iraq Takes Back Last Basra Holdouts From Shia Militias
• Israeli Strikes Kill Gaza Militants
• 80 Dead From Weekend Fighting In Mogadishu
• Mugabe’s Tsunami: Thousands Fleeing Crackdown In Zimbabwe
• Anti-West Protests Spread In China
• Ecuador’s President Purges Military, Moves To Close US Base

Business & Economics

• Hollywood Studios To Launch Their Own Cable Channel
• US Firms “Notably Downbeat”, Sharp Turn From Last Year

Video of the Day

German Mustache Madness: “German beard and mustache championship draws more than 100 men from various countries to compete for most extravagant look.”

Politics

With Tomorrow’s Primary Potentially Ending The Race, Clinton & Obama Get Nasty(er)

With tomorrow’s primary in Pennsylvania crucial for Clinton to sustain her campaign and Obama trailing her in polls, both Democrats’ campaigns unleashed some of their harshest attacks yet over the weekend. A new Clinton ad said, “In the last 10 years Barack Obama has taken almost $2 million from lobbyists, corporations and PACs. The head of his New Hampshire campaign is a drug company lobbyist, in Indiana an energy lobbyist, a casino lobbyist in Nevada.” While Obama’s response said he ‘”doesn’t take money from special interest PACs or Washington lobbyists - not one dime.’ Clinton does, it added, and accused her of ‘eleventh-hour smears paid for by lobbyist money ….’”

Obama Damage Stabilizes In Gallup Daily Poll

After Clinton caught up to Obama’s 11-point lead and even passed him in Gallup’s daily national poll of Democrats, Obama has slipped back ahead of Clinton - 47% to 45%. Clinton caught Obama after Wednesday’s debate which heavily focused on Obama gaffes and controversies.

McCain Attacks Obama Over Ties To Domestic Terrorist

“Sen. McCain stoked debate over a ’60s radical’s ties to Obama on ABC’s ‘This Week’ on Sunday, saying Obama’s defense ‘borders on the outrageous.’ William Ayers — a former member of the Weather Underground, which embraced bombing in its effort to end the Vietnam War — became an issue in the Democratic nominating race at last week’s debate. Clinton said Obama’s past meetings with Ayers are part of a ‘larger set of concerns about how we are going to run against John McCain.’ Republican sources said McCain plans to make a major issue of the connection in the months ahead.”

McCain Seizes On Hamas Comments About Obama

On Friday, McCain’s campaign sent out an email to supporters in which it lashed out at Obama, citing comments made by a Hamas leader. The email said, “Barack Obama’s foreign policy plans have even won him praise from Hamas leaders. Ahmed Yousef, chief political adviser to the Hamas Prime Minister said, ‘We like Mr. Obama and we hope he will win the election. He has a vision to change America.’”

US

Over 30 Shot Over The Weekend In Chicago

More than 30 people were shot over the weekend in Chicago, with at least six fatalities. Chicago Police blamed the rash of violence on “too many guns and too many gangs and too much drugs on the street

Pope Blesses Ground Zero, Prays For Peace

“Pope Benedict XVI began the final day of his American journey by blessing the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and pleading with God to bring ‘peace to our violent world.’ The visit by Benedict to ground zero was a poignant moment in a trip marked by unexpectedly festive crowds anxious to see the former academic who for three years has led the world’s Roman Catholics.”

10,000 Celebrate Pot Day At Colorado University

Over 10,000 people gathered on Colorado University’s Norlin Quadrangle yesterday to honor the internationally recognized marijuana celebration that occurs every year on April 20 at 4:20 pm. Saying they were simply too outnumbered to do anything about it, CU police didn’t issue any citations and were present only to maintain order.

Most Think Oil Is Running Out, Americans Think Government Is “Out Of Touch”

“Most people believe oil is running out and governments need to find another fuel, but Americans are alone in thinking their leaders are out of touch with reality on this issue, an international poll said on Sunday.”

Chinese Protest CNN “Goons And Thugs” Comments, Deliver Death Threats

“Chinese-Americans rallied outside CNN’s Hollywood office on Saturday to demand the firing of commentator Jack Cafferty for calling China’s goods ‘junk’ and its leaders a ‘bunch of goons and thugs.’ A wave of verbal assaults on foreign media has raised concerns about media controls at the Olympics. CNN has been singled out by the Chinese government, and activists have phoned and e-mailed death threats to Western reporters.”

Danica Patrick Becomes First Woman To Win IndyCar Race (Video)

“Danica Patrick became the first female winner in IndyCar history Sunday, taking the Indy Japan 300 after the top contenders were forced to pit for fuel in the final laps.”

International

UN Head Calls On World To Increase Food Production

“The U.N. chief warned Sunday that the world must urgently increase food production to ease skyrocketing prices and pledged to set up a task force on a crisis threatening to destabilize developing nations. The cost of food has increased by around 40 percent since mid-2007 worldwide, and the strain has caused riots and protests in countries like Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Haiti and Egypt. He said he would put together a special task force to help deal with the problem and called on the international community to help. He said the U.N. World Food Program plans to raise $750 million per year to help feed 73 million people in 80 countries. ‘We need a real world and not the world of economic theories,’ Ban said.”

Europe

Prince William Criticized For RAF Helicopter Stunt In Girlfriend’s Backyard

“Prince William was under fire again after it emerged that he had landed his £10million RAF helicopter in girlfriend Kate Middleton’s back garden during an official military exercise. Miss Middleton and her parents are said to have watched in delight as the second in line to the throne practised a series of take-offs and landings in the paddock of their sprawling detached home in Bucklebury, Berkshire, earlier this month. Details of the two-hour stunt emerged just days after the prince was heavily criticised for using another Chinook to fly himself and his brother Harry to a stag weekend on the Isle of Wight.”

Middle East

Iraq PM: We Cannot Become The New Somalia

“Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is calling on political parties to unite against armed groups in Iraq, a spokesman said Sunday, warning that ‘Iraq cannot be the new Somalia.’ ‘It is a clear message,’ al-Maliki spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said of the situation in Iraq. ‘We cannot accept the presence of armed groups.’ Somalia has been mired in chaos since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on each other.”

US Seeks To Expand Fight Into Pakistan

“American commanders in Afghanistan have in recent months urged a widening of the war that could include American attacks on indigenous Pakistani militants in the tribal areas inside Pakistan, according to United States officials. The requests have been rebuffed for now, the officials said, after deliberations in Washington among senior Bush administration officials who fear that attacking Pakistani radicals may anger Pakistan’s new government, which is negotiating with the militants, and destabilize an already fragile security situation.”

Iraq Takes Back Last Basra Holdouts From Shia Militias

“Iraqi soldiers took control of the last bastions of the cleric Moktada al-Sadr’s militia in Basra on Saturday, and Iran’s ambassador to Baghdad strongly endorsed the Iraqi government’s monthlong military operation against the fighters. By Saturday evening, Basra was calm, but only after air and artillery strikes by American and British forces cleared the way for Iraqi troops to move into the Hayaniya district and other remaining Mahdi Army militia strongholds and begin house-to house searches, Iraqi officials said.”

Israeli Strikes Kill Gaza Militants

“Israel carried out a series of airstrikes against armed Palestinians in northern Gaza late Saturday and early Sunday, according to an Israel Defense Forces spokeswoman. Hamas sources said five of its fighters were killed in the raids. One strike hit a group of Hamas militants outside Gaza City, killing one and injuring three others, Hamas security sources said. Four Hamas militants were killed and two others were injured late Saturday in a strike near Jabaliya in northern Gaza, the sources said. The strikes come a day after Palestinian militants detonated two car bombs at an Israel-Gaza border crossing in what the Israeli military said was an attack timed to coincide with Passover. The week-long Jewish holiday began at sundown Saturday.”

Africa

80 Dead From Weekend Fighting In Mogadishu

“Two days of fighting between government and Ethiopian troops and Islamic militants in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, left 81 civilians dead and more than 100 wounded, a local human rights group reported Sunday. Sudan Ali Ahmed, the head of the Mogadishu-based Elman Human Rights Group, accused the rebels of using civilians has human shields, while the transitional government’s Ethiopian allies shelled residential neighborhoods with tanks and artillery.”

Mugabe’s Tsunami: Thousands Fleeing Crackdown In Zimbabwe

Thousands are fleeing Zimbabwe for neighboring South Africa as gangs of President Mugabe’s supporters are “sweeping the countryside with chunks of wood in their hands, demanding to see party identification cards and methodically hunting down opposition supporters.” Mugabe is desperately hanging onto power and increasingly turning to violence after an election three weeks ago that he is widely believed to have lost. The government is reportedly “using food as a weapon and channeling much of the United Nations-donated grain to supporters of the ruling party.”

Asia

Anti-West Protests Spread In China

“Nationwide demonstrations against a French supermarket chain spread on Sunday as thousands of people protested what they said was France’s sympathy for pro-Tibetan agitators. The protesters have also been singling out Western news outlets, especially CNN, for what they said was biased coverage of unrest in Tibet. In a sign that the government was still allowing anti-foreign sentiment to spill over into rare street demonstrations, thousands of people rallied on Sunday in front of Carrefour markets in six cities, including two, Harbin and Jinan, where there had not been protests earlier. Demonstrators carried banners saying, ‘Oppose Tibet Independence’ and ‘Condemn CNN,’ according to the official Xinhua News Agency.”

Americas

Ecuador’s President Purges Military, Moves To Close US Base

“Chafing at ties between American intelligence agencies and Ecuadorean military officials, President Rafael Correa is purging the armed forces of top commanders and pressing ahead with plans to cast out more than 100 members of the American military from an air base [in the coastal city of Manta]. Mr. Correa — who this month dismissed his defense minister, army chief of intelligence and commanders of the army, air force and joint chiefs — said that Ecuador’s intelligence systems were ‘totally infiltrated and subjugated to the C.I.A.’ He accused senior military officials of sharing intelligence with Colombia, the Bush administration’s top ally in Latin America.”

Business & Economics

Hollywood Studios To Launch Their Own Cable Channel

Pay-TV channels HBO, Showtime and Starz are about to get a new competitor in their lucrative and insular world. Viacom Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. and Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. Sunday announced a new joint venture to launch a premium channel, scheduled to debut in the fall of 2009. Stocked with movies and original TV series from the three companies’ five studios, the as-yet-unnamed subscription service will attempt to muscle into a market that’s been dominated by the same players for decades.

US Firms “Notably Downbeat”, Sharp Turn From Last Year

“U.S. companies, burdened by worries about slow sales and tighter credit, have turned pessimistic, a new survey shows. That’s a marked change from the optimism that persisted for much of last year, even as conditions in global financial markets started to deteriorate. Companies in several industries, including manufacturing, telecommunications, finance, and retailing, reported falling profit margins and slumping demand for their products during the first three months of 2008, according to a quarterly survey by the National Association for Business Economics. The 109 respondents were ‘notably downbeat,’ said Ken Simonson, chief economist at the Associated General Contractors of America, who helped analyze the data from the latest installment of the 26-year-old survey. He said reports of falling profit margins outnumbered reports of rising profit margins for the first time in five years.”