A brief list of news for the day:
Secret US plot to kill Al-Sard. “The US Army tried to kill or capture Muqtada al-Sadr, the widely revered Shia cleric, after luring him to peace negotiations at a house in the holy city of Najaf, which it then attacked, according to a senior Iraqi government official. The revelation of this extraordinary plot, which would probably have provoked an uprising by outraged Shia if it had succeeded, has left a legacy of bitter distrust in the mind of Mr Sadr for which the US and its allies in Iraq may still be paying.” >> News at: http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2565123.ece
“The road to Jerusalem (via Lebanon). Inspired by al-Qa’ida, a hitherto little-known militant group is behind the outbreak of bloody violence which has left scores dead. They came into Lebanon last summer when the world was watching Israel smash this small nation in a vain attempt to destroy the Hizbollah. But the men who set up their grubby little office in the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp, some of them fighters from the Iraq war, others from Yemen, Syria or Lebanon itself, were far more dangerous than America and Israel believed the Hizbollah to be. They had come, they told the few journalists who bothered to seek them out “to liberate” Jerusalem because ‘to free our territory is a sacred duty inscribed in the Koran’.” >> News at: http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article2573297.ece
US navy in show of force off Iran. “Nine US warships carrying 17,000 personnel have entered the Gulf in a show of force off Iran’s coast.” >> News at: http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/058EB996-385A-4BC2-88BB-C5DC8AE388E3.htm
Democrats relent on troop pullout timetable. “Democrats gave up their demand for troop-withdrawal deadlines in an Iraq war spending package yesterday, abandoning their top goal of bringing U.S. troops home and handing President Bush a victory in a debate that has roiled Congress for months.” >> News at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/22/AR2007052201329.html
New political party in Puerto Rico. “Seeking to break what many see as their stranglehold on power, the Puerto Ricans for Puerto Rico Party was officially certified this month by the State Election Commission. It can now run a full slate of candidates for the 2008 election in the U.S. commonwealth and qualify for some $3.6 million in public campaign financing.” >> News at: http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSN1734404620070523
Amnesty’s annual report accuses Israel and Hezbollah of war crimes. “Amnesty International accused both Israel and Hezbollah on Wednesday of committing war crimes during the Second Lebanon War last summer, saying both were guilty of indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas.” >> News at: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/862458.html
The making of a British constitution. “The argument for a written constitution in the United Kingdom in 2007 requires a sense of history and of the scale of the challenge. Above all, it must take account of the divergent national experiences of England and Scotland.” >> News at: http://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy-kingdom/constitution_need_4636.jsp
“Bank of Canada Governor David Dodge says North America could one day embrace a euro-style single currency. But to get there, Canada, the United States and Mexico must first tear down barriers to the free flow of labour, which he pointed out Monday have “gotten a bit thicker” in recent years.” >> News at: http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070521.wrxdodge22/BNStory/Business/home
“Australia’s military spending: the high cost of a deputy sheriff’s badge. Since coming to power in 1996, the Howard Government has increased spending on the military by 46 per cent in real terms. Spending for the current financial year will reach $19.9 billion. Thanks to Costello’s 12th Budget, next year it will be $22 billion or around 2 per cent of gross domestic product. By 2016-17 it is expected to rise to $29.9 billion.” >> News at: http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/5316/1/260/
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