Headlines

Politics

• Supreme Court Upholds Voter ID Law, Potential Setback For Obama
• Obama Against Gas Tax Relief Supported By Clinton And McCain
• Rev. Wright Further Complicates Life For Obama
• Obama Takes Lead In Support From Party Officials
• RNC Demands TV Stations Stop Playing Anti-McCain Ad

US

• Truckers Converge On Washington, Protesting Gas Prices
• Video Shows Wretched Conditions In Fort Bragg
• Major Tornadoes Hit Virginia

International

• UN Chief Creates Food Crisis Task Force
• Israel Begins Rice Rationing
• Singapore Encouraging Youth To Boost Birth RateBuddhist Monks Sentenced To Life In Prison Over Anti-China Protests
• Zimbabwe Opposition Parties Unite Against Mugabe’s “Crimes Against Humanity”

Business & Economics

• OPEC Boss: Oil Could Hit $200, US At Fault
• Shell Books Record Profits
• Deutsche Bank Books First Loss In 5 Years
• Former GM Investor Kerkorian Buying 5% Stake In Ford

Video of the Day

“Barack Obama’s former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, came to Washington DC, defending his controversial sermons at a National Press Club event packed with non-journalistic supporters. Wright said that his sermon in which he said, ‘God Damn, America’ was taken out of context. He also refused to back down from his earlier statement that the AIDS virus was created by the American government in order to infect people of color.”

Politics

Supreme Court Upholds Voter ID Law, Potential Setback For Obama

“States can require voters to produce photo identification, the Supreme Court ruled Monday, upholding a Republican-inspired law that Democrats say will keep some poor, older and minority voters from casting ballots. Twenty-five states require some form of ID, and the court’s 6-3 decision rejecting a challenge to Indiana’s strict voter ID law could encourage others to adopt their own measures. Oklahoma legislators said the decision should help them get a version approved. The ruling means the ID requirement will be in effect for next week’s presidential primary in Indiana, where a significant number of new voters are expected to turn out for the Democratic contest between Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.” Obama receives a significant portion of his support from new voters, making him more sensitive to the impacts of laws that potentially restrict their ability to cast their votes.

Obama Against Gas Tax Relief Supported By Clinton And McCain

“As angry truckers encircled the Capitol in a horn-blaring caravan and consumers across the country agonized over $60 fill-ups, the issue of high fuel prices flared on the campaign trail on Monday, sharply dividing the two Democratic candidates. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton lined up with Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, in endorsing a plan to suspend the federal excise tax on gasoline, 18.4 cents a gallon, for the summer travel season. But Senator Barack Obama, Mrs. Clinton’s Democratic rival, spoke out firmly against the proposal, saying it would save consumers little and do nothing to curtail oil consumption and imports.”

Rev. Wright Further Complicates Life For Obama

“After his substantial nine-point loss to Hillary Rodham Clinton in Pennsylvania earlier this month, Barack Obama appeared to be on track and getting his mojo back with just days until the crucial May 6 primaries in Indiana and North Carolina. Obama found new venues (Fox News Sunday), started a new drive to reach out to Reagan Democrats (photo ops on the basketball court) and found a new focus on the economy. But all that was submerged in quicksand when Jeremiah Wright, the fiery pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, appeared again to show what a damaging and uncontrolled distraction he can be. Just as Americans were beginning to forget his ‘God damn America’ video clip, the Chicago minister delivered two more unapologetic and high-profile addresses in 48 hours, defiantly suggesting recent criticism was not aimed at him - but at African American churches. Wright’s new controversial sound bites included defending anti-Semitic Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan as ‘one of the most important voices in the 20th and 21st century’ and apparently mocking President John F. Kennedy.”

Obama Takes Lead In Support From Party Officials

“Despite his loss in Pennsylvania and other campaign bumps, Barack Obama is heavily favored to win what will be the final and decisive contest for the Democratic presidential nomination — the ‘invisible primary’ for the convention votes of party leaders. The reasons say a lot about these superdelegates’ calculations for the November elections — the presidential one, or their own. The 795 superdelegates, who can vote for any nominee, fall into one of two groups — the elected and the unelected. Sen. Obama has taken the lead among elected officials, and Monday got the endorsement of New Mexico Sen. Jeff Bingaman, though Sen. Hillary Clinton will counter Tuesday with a commitment from Gov. Mike Easley, whose North Carolina holds the next primary. Sen. Clinton still leads by double digits among nonelected national and state party officials, but her edge has been narrowing.”

RNC Demands TV Stations Stop Playing Anti-McCain Ad

“The Republican National Committee demanded Monday that television networks stop running a television ad by the Democratic Party that falsely suggests John McCain wants a 100-year war in Iraq. The ad says President Bush has talked about staying in Iraq for 50 years, then plays a clip of McCain saying, ‘Maybe 100. That’d be fine with me.’ The announcer then says: ‘If all he offers is more of the same, is John McCain the right choice for America’s future?’ Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan said the ad deliberately distorts what McCain, the likely GOP presidential nominee, said. The committee’s chief counsel, Sean Cairncross, said he sent letters Monday to NBC, CNN and MSNBC insisting that they stop airing the commercial.”

US

Truckers Converge On Washington, Protesting Gas Prices

“A caravan of horn-honking truck drivers rolled their rigs through Washington yesterday, protesting rising gasoline costs and demanding that Congress impose caps on prices at the pump. The truckers, who formed a long column, circled the Mall about noon and blared their horns. Some spectators waved while others covered their ears. ‘The high price for oil is hurting our economy,’ said Mark Kirsch, a trucker from Myerstown, Pa., who helped organize the rally. ‘It’s hurting middle-class people.’ A spokesman for Truckers and Citizens United, which sponsored the demonstration, said 200 to 250 trucks showed up, about half of what the group had predicted.” Many independent truckers can no longer profitably conduct their profession given the rapid run-up in gas prices.

Video Shows Wretched Conditions In Fort Bragg

“The U.S. military is promising action to address conditions in a barracks at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, after a soldier’s father posted images on YouTube showing a building that he said ’should be condemned.‘ ‘This is embarrassing. It’s disgusting. It makes me mad as hell,’ Ed Frawley said of the building where his son, Sgt. Jeff Frawley, had to live upon his return this month from a 15-month deployment to Afghanistan. Frawley said Monday that Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Dick Cody called him to say he shares Frawley’s anger and that ‘there’s no excuse.’ Frawley’s 10-minute video shows still photos from throughout the building, which appears to be falling apart and filled with mold and rust. Paint — which Frawley said is lead-based — is chipping. Ceiling tiles are missing. A broken drain pipe allows sewer gas into the building, while another one has tissues stuffed into it in an apparent effort to stop the gas from coming in. Photos from the communal bathroom show some of the most disgusting images. In one, a soldier stands in a sink to avoid what Frawley describes as 3 inches of sewage water that filled the floor when toilets overflowed.”

Major Tornadoes Hit Virginia

“The National Weather Service confirms three tornadoes touched down in central and southeastern Virginia Monday. Associated Press reports authorities say at least 200 people suffered injuries throughout the Commonwealth. Meteorologist Bryan Jackson of the National Weather Service says the twisters hit Suffolk, Colonial Heights and Brunswick County on Monday afternoon. He described Suffolk’s as a ‘major tornado.’ Monday evening, Governor Tim Kaine declared a state of emergency for areas of southeastern Virginia that suffered damage.”

International

UN Chief Creates Food Crisis Task Force

“The UN secretary general has said that the world organisation will set up a top-level task force to tackle the global food crisis. Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday that he agreed with UN agency chiefs on a series of measures for the medium and long terms. Ban, who will lead the task force, said the first priority would be meeting the $755 million shortfall in funding for the World Food Program (WFP). ‘We anticipate that additional funding will be required,’ he told reporters in the Swiss capital Bern where the UN agency chiefs have been meeting. But he said more was needed to provide for future needs. ‘We must ensure food for tomorrow,’ he said. Ban said there were a number of causes of the food crisis including climate change, long spells of drought, changing consumption patterns in major developing countries and the planting of crops for biofuel.”

Middle East

Israel Begins Rice Rationing

“Rationing of rice by retail stores has spread as far as Israel since The New York Sun reported on the phenomenon in Northern California last week. The Blue Square and Supersol supermarket chains have begun limiting purchases of rice, Israeli newspapers said yesterday. Supersol is restricting each customer to ‘three bags per type of grain product,’ the Jerusalem Post reported.” Rice rationing has been seen around the world in the wake of soaring prices primarily driven by rising demand in the developing world and the cost of oil.

Asia

Singapore Encouraging Youth To Boost Birth Rate

“It was like a college mixer, a classroom full of young men and women seeking a recipe for romance. The relationship classes are an extension of the government’s aim to help boost the birthrate, one of the lowest in the world. They had assembled for the first class of “Love Relations for Life: A Journey of Romance, Love and Sexuality.” The course, in its second year at two polytechnic institutes, is the latest of many, mostly futile, campaigns by Singapore’s government to get its citizens to mate and multiply. Its popularity last year has led to talk of its expansion through the higher education system. ‘We want to tell students, “Don’t wait until you have built up your career,”‘ said Yu-Foo Yee Shoon, the minister of state for community development, youth and sports, at a news conference in March. ‘Sometimes, it is too late, especially for girls.’ The courses are an extension of government matchmaking programs that try to address the twin challenges embodied in a falling birthrate: too few people are having babies, and too few of those who are belong to what Singapore considers the genetically desirable educated elite.”

Buddhist Monks Sentenced To Life In Prison Over Anti-China Protests

“Six Buddhist monks are among the first people to be jailed for a riot in which Tibetans rampaged through the capital of the Himalayan region six weeks ago in the worst anti-Chinese violence in the restive city for nearly two decades. The Lhasa Intermediate People’s Court, in what state media described as an open session, today sentenced 17 people to terms ranging from three years to life. The two people sentenced to life were Basang, a monk from Doilungdeqen County in Lhasa, and Soi’nam Norbu, a driver for a property company. The court convicted Basang of leading 10 people - including five monks - to destroy a local government office, smash or burn down 11 shops, steal valuables and attack policemen.”

Africa

Zimbabwe Opposition Parties Unite Against Mugabe’s “Crimes Against Humanity”

“With many of their activists under violent attack and hundreds of their supporters in jail, the leaders of Zimbabwe’s divided opposition formally announced Monday that the two groups had reunited, claiming control of Parliament for the first time in the nation’s history and demanding that President Robert Mugabe concede the recent election. The leaders of the two factions, Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, also called for the United Nations to send a special envoy to Zimbabwe in an effort to stop what Mr. Tsvangirai called state-supported attacks that are ‘tantamount to crimes against humanity.’ The joint declaration ends two years of public bickering between competing factions of the Movement for Democratic Change, but it brings no further clarity to the political muddle in Zimbabwe, a nation that held elections on March 29 and still has no official presidential results.”

Business & Economics

OPEC Boss: Oil Could Hit $200, US At Fault

The head of OPEC speculated that oil could hit $200 a barrel, blaming the US for the economic and geopolitical conditions driving the price surge. “‘Without geopolitical problems and the fall in the dollar, the prices of oil would not be at this level,’ he was also quoted as saying in Algerian newspaper El Moudjahid.” OPEC has declined to increase output or otherwise take measures that would bring prices down.

Shell Books Record Profits

“Royal Dutch Shell’s has reported a 25 percent rise in first-quarter earnings, crediting strong increases in energy prices. Europe’s largest oil company said Tuesday its average selling price of crude oil leaped by 66 percent to over $90 per barrel from the first quarter a year ago. That sent net profit soaring to a record $9.08 billion. Sales were up 55 percent to $114 billion.”

Deutsche Bank Books First Loss In 5 Years

“Deutsche Bank AG Tuesday reported its first quarterly net loss in five years, reflecting additional asset write-downs, lower revenue and a trading loss in a deteriorating market. Germany’s largest bank by market capitalization said its net loss was €131 million compared with a net profit of €2.12 billion a year earlier. Reflecting fallout from the global financial crisis, quarterly revenue tumbled 52% to €4.6 billion from €9.6 billion, and the bank swung to a trading loss of €1.58 billion from a €3.97 billion trading profit in the year-earlier quarter.”

Former GM Investor Kerkorian Buying 5% Stake In Ford

“General Motors Corp. holders got a boost from Kirk Kerkorian three years ago when he bought its shares and pushed for steps to end losses. Now the billionaire investor is betting on Ford Motor Co. Kerkorian dumped his GM stock in 2006 after the automaker rejected an alliance with Renault SA. Yesterday, he said he would invest $861 million for a 5.7 percent stake in Ford, four days after the company posted a $100 million profit. Detroit- based GM, the world’s largest automaker, probably will report its third straight quarterly loss tomorrow, according to a survey of 15 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.”