"On an emotional visit to mark Israel's 60th anniversary, President Bush on Thursday compared people seeking talks with Iran and radical Islamic groups to the Nazis' appeasers, provoking a political storm at home and accusations that he was politicizing the celebration," the Washington Post reports. "Bush's address to the Israeli parliament also stirred intense debate between Israelis and Palestinians."
The White House made available a transcript of Bush's remarks.
"Bush put the finishing touch on his celebrate-and-be-celebrated Israel stay, leaving the Holy Land" today "with no movement on Mideast peace but hoping to fare better in Saudi Arabia at obtaining help for soaring gas prices at home," AP reports.
"To its critics, the $307 billion farm bill heading to President Bush's desk is the poster child for what John McCain and Barack Obama promise to change about Washington," USA Today reports. "At a time of soaring food prices and record farm income, the legislation would authorize billions in subsidies for wealthy agribusiness interests that give millions in political contributions."
"Launching a congressional critique of China, Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said Thursday that persistent, peaceful dialogue is paying off in aligning Beijing with the United States on several major world fronts," AP reports. "'The trend lines are positive,' Negroponte said, citing China's leadership in trying to end North Korea's nuclear weapons program, its support for sanctions against North Korea and Iran, and its support of deployment of peacekeepers in Sudan's restive Darfur region."
"The State Department will soon begin production of an electronic passport card that security specialists and members of Congress fear will be vulnerable to alteration or counterfeiting," the Washington Times reports. "The agency has contracted with L-1 Identity Solutions Inc. to produce electronic-passport cards as a substitute for booklet passports for use by Americans who travel frequently by road or sea to Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean."
"The Bush administration is on the verge of implementing new air quality rules that will make it easier to build power plants near national parks and wilderness areas, according to rank-and-file agency scientists and park managers who oppose the plan," the Washington Post reports. "The new regulations, which are likely to be finalized this summer, rewrite a provision of the Clean Air Act that applies to 'Class 1 areas,' federal lands that currently have the highest level of protection under the law."
"The Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin a $1.5 billion contract to build the military's next generation of navigation satellites, crucial for the growing demand by the military, companies and consumers for technology that pinpoints and tracks location," the Post reports.
Congress: House Passes Expanded G.I. Bill
"The House voted Thursday to endorse a greatly expanded GI education benefit for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan to be financed by a proposed .47 percent surtax on the wealthy," the Politico reports. "The action pushes Democrats into new political territory for this Congress: raising income taxes outright on the rich to pay for new spending -- and not just to shift the burden and pay for tax breaks for the middle class."
"The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved a sweeping emergency wartime funding package that includes restrictions on President Bush's Iraq policy and provides tens of billions for new domestic programs," The Hill reports. "The voice vote approval sets up a floor fight next week between the two parties over domestic priorities and the Iraq war on the eve of Congress' one-week Memorial Day recess."
"Key senators say they're close to a deal on legislation that would rescue homeowners facing foreclosure," The Hill reports. "The potential deal between" Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., "the committee's ranking member, would also tighten the reins on mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac."
"Bush's calls for fiscal responsibility received scant notice this week on Capitol Hill. Fellow Republicans had something bigger on their minds -- high prices for groceries and gasoline in an election year that is looking increasingly bleak for their party," AP reports.
Iraq: Al-Qaida Crackdown Under Way In Mosul
"Government troops began house-to-house searches for al-Qaida in Iraq militants in Mosul on Thursday, part of a major security operation to cleanse Iraq's third largest city from cells of the terror network," AP reports. "Described by the U.S. military as the last major urban base of al-Qaida in Iraq, Mosul has become the site of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's third security drive in two months as he attempts to defeat Shiite militants and Sunni extremists."
"Iraqi security forces" today "offered an amnesty and cash in exchange for heavy weapons in" Mosul, "where a crackdown against Al-Qaeda operatives entered its third day," Agence France-Presse reports. "Defence ministry spokesman Major General Mohammed Al-Askari said the amnesty would last 10 days and would extend across Nineveh province of which Mosul is the capital."
"When Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal greeted his Iraqi counterpart with a bear hug at a Persian Gulf conference last month, Bush administration officials watching from the sidelines were all smiles," the Washington Post reports. "But despite U.S. entreaties, there has been no second date. Riyadh -- along with every other Sunni Arab state -- still declines to send an ambassador to Baghdad or to forgive billions of dollars of Hussein-era debt."
"Four Iranian Embassy employees were shot and wounded, two of them seriously, as they drove in northwest Baghdad on Thursday night, Iranian and Iraqi officials said," the Los Angeles Times reports. "The reason for the shooting was unclear. It came as the Iraqi and Iranian governments spar over allegations of Iranian aid to Shiite Muslim militias in Iraq."
"Federal prosecutors and FBI agents from Seattle are in Baghdad this week interviewing witnesses and reviewing evidence in the investigation of a former Blackwater USA security operator suspected of the December 2006 slaying of the Iraqi vice president's bodyguard," the Seattle Times reports. "U.S. Attorney Jeff Sullivan said Thursday that his office should decide whether to indict former Army paratrooper Andrew Moonen of Seattle in connection with the killing."
Nation: Calif. Court Strikes Down Gay Marriage Ban
"The California Supreme Court struck down the state's ban on same-sex marriage Thursday in a broadly worded decision that would invalidate virtually any law that discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation," the Los Angeles Times reports. "The 4-3 ruling declared that the state Constitution protects a fundamental 'right to marry' that extends equally to same-sex couples. It tossed a highly emotional issue into the election year while opening the way for tens of thousands of gay people to wed in California."
"A psychologist who helps lead the post-traumatic stress disorder program at a medical facility for veterans in Texas told staff members to refrain from diagnosing PTSD because so many veterans were seeking government disability payments for the condition," the Washington Post reports.
"As many as 350,000 households are not getting the $300 per child refund owed as part of economic stimulus rebate payments, the Internal Revenue Service said Thursday," AP reports. "The IRS says taxpayers' error and problems with commercial tax preparation software were responsible for the problem affecting a tiny percentage of the 130 million taxpayers expected to benefit from the refunds the government began sending out last month."
New York Gov. David Paterson (D) "signed legislation Thursday that will make it a felony to display a noose as a threat. The crime would be punishable by up to four years in prison," AP reports. "Paterson says the legislation still isn't enough and New York law will need to be strengthened more."
"Anthony Pellicano, the ripped-from-a-pulp-novel private eye who made himself an indispensable fixer for Hollywood stars and moguls, was found guilty in federal court Thursday of racketeering, wiretapping and other charges," the New York Times reports.
Economy: Experts Debate Whether Housing Crisis Has Passed
"A slight improvement in the economy in the past month has touched off a raging debate among titans of the economic world over whether the worst of the housing and mortgage crisis is over," the Washington Times reports. "Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. started the debate by declaring last week that a month of relative calm in financial markets suggested that the credit crisis has reached its peak and that Americans can look forward to an improving economy for the rest of the year."
"The world's most powerful central banks are telegraphing the end of interest-rate cuts, and traders already anticipate the first steps in the opposite direction," Bloomberg News reports. "Federal Reserve officials this week flagged inflation risks after slashing borrowing costs seven times since September and Bank of England Governor Mervyn King unveiled Britain's worst price outlook in a decade."
"Surprising even the most optimistic forecasters, the German economy grew 1.5 percent in the first quarter of this year, delivering its best performance in more than a decade despite the global financial crisis and recessionary fears enveloping the United States," the New York Times reports. "The euro zone, where Germany accounts for a third of economic output among 15 members, grew 0.7 percent during the period, the statistics agency Eurostat reported Thursday."
World: Zimbabwe Violence Escalates; Lebanese Factions Agree To Talks
"Zimbabwe's opposition party on Thursday called for an urgent new round of regional diplomacy to resolve that nation's six-week-old electoral stalemate, saying that only foreign intervention can prevent a recent surge of political violence from developing into full-scale civil strife," the Washington Post reports. "Tendai Biti, secretary general of the Movement for Democratic Change, said the Southern African Development Community (SADC) must 'play the midwifery role' in easing President Robert Mugabe from power."
"Arab mediators brokered a deal Thursday to end Lebanon's worst internal fighting since its 15-year civil war, inviting factions to Qatar for talks but leaving unresolved questions that have embroiled the country for 18 months," the Post reports. "In a sign of ongoing tension in Lebanon, announcement of the agreement was delayed repeatedly through the day, as politicians haggled over the minutia of phrases and the sequence of single words."
"Top aid envoys are ramping up pressure on Burma, as reports from the country suggest aid is still not reaching the region worst hit by Cyclone Nargis. A" BBC News "reporter visiting the Irrawaddy Delta said there was little sign of help from the government, which has banned foreign aid staff from the area."
"The Chinese government said Thursday that the number of people killed by this week's earthquake in Sichuan province would probably more than double to 50,000 as rescuers dug out more victims -- some still alive, but many more dead," the Los Angeles Times reports. "With the official death toll climbing to 19,509, China dropped its insistence on delivering rescue and medical assistance on its own."
"Interpol on Thursday vouched for the integrity of electronic files downloaded from a dead rebel leader's computer equipment, data that Colombia says strongly indicate that Venezuela offered to aid this nation's largest insurgent group," the Times reports. "Interpol's verdict came after a two-month analysis of thousands of electronic files recovered from computers and accessories that Colombia says were found at a camp in Ecuador."
"Pakistani officials are making it increasingly clear that they have no interest in stopping cross-border attacks by militants into Afghanistan, prompting a new level of frustration from Americans who see the infiltration as a crucial strategic priority in the war in Afghanistan," the New York Times reports.
"Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's new right-wing government on Thursday announced a crackdown on immigration-linked crime, acting quickly on a campaign pledge that helped it win April polls," Agence France-Presse reports. "Italian police arrested 268 foreigners -- including a high number of Romanians -- during the government's first week in office, the interior ministry said."
"Thousands of students, teachers and other state-employed workers poured into the streets Thursday in what has become an annual rite of spring in France: strikes," the Wall Street Journal reports. "But for the unions, the stakes this May are higher than usual. The walkout is a test of whether their most trusted -- and feared -- bargaining tool, la grève, still has the muscle it once did."
