Report: Movement restrictions hinder aid impact
Electronic Intifada - 28 Apr 2008
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rJERUSALEM, 28 April (IRIN) – The World Bank has said that the Palestinian economy will not improve over the next year due to the Israeli restrictions on movement in the West Bank and the blockade on the Gaza Strip, despite efforts by the Palestinian Authority (PA) and international donors to boost the local economy. This predicament will exacerbate the humanitarian situation in the enclave, analysts said.

Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline is on
Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII) - 28 Apr 2008
Summary: Pepe Escobar: Asian countries create interdependent energy economy with Iran, despite US opposition: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has met with Pakistan’s president, Pervez Musharraf, and the prime minister, Raza Gilani, to discuss the construction of a gas pipeline from Iran to India. source: The Real Newsread more

Hypocrisy Par Excellence
Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII) - 28 Apr 2008
Summary: Israeli threats to “destroy the Iranian nation” in a retaliatory strike should Iran attack Israel seems perfectly acceptable to the US State Department. However, its spokesman, Sean McCormack, is voicing his strong condemnations against the Iranian officials when they respond in kind. How hypocritical is that? source: Intellectual Discourseread more

Iran holds key to India’s energy insecurity
Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII) - 28 Apr 2008
Summary: In the rapidly intensifying international energy game, Iran holds a master key to the most staggering roadblock to India’s economic growth – energy insecurity. With the issue of energy cooperation expected to dominate talks on Tuesday between visiting Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad and his hosts in New Delhi, a new chapter in India-Iran relations is on the horizon that will likely bring the two countries closer together on a long-term basis. source: Asia Times Onlineread more

West Virginia Grandfather Takes on the Coal Industry: Ed Wiley on His Battle Against Mountaintop Removal Mining
Democracy Now - 28 Apr 2008
It’s been described as ?the government-sanctioned bombing of Appalachia.? The controversial coal mining practice known as mountaintop removal has been used widely in West Virginia. The technique involves blasting off the tops of mountains and dumping the rubble into valleys and streams. Its use has expanded under the Bush administration. We speak with Ed Wiley, one of the leading activists behind the grassroots effort to stop mountaintop removal in West Virginia.

BROADCAST EXCLUSIVE…Ousted NYC Arabic School Principal Debbie Almontaser Speaks Out on the New McCarthyism & Rightwing Media Attacks
Democracy Now - 28 Apr 2008
Debbie Almontaser was forced to step down in August 2007 as the founding principal of the Khalil Gibran School, New York City?s first public school dedicated to the study of Arabic language and culture. Her resignation followed a rightwing campaign that painted her as an educator with a militant Islamic agenda. In a Democracy Now! exclusive, Debbie Almontaser joins us in her first national broadcast interview since stepping down and suing the city. [includes rush transcript]

Headlines for April 29, 2008
Democracy Now - 28 Apr 2008
Supreme Court Upholds Voter ID Law, House Democrats Prepare New War Funding Bill, Cindy Sheehan to Run Against Nancy Pelosi, April Becomes Deadliest Month Since September for US Troops, Mourners Bury Palestinian Family Killed in Bombing, Israeli Warplanes Reportedly Violated Lebanese Airspace, Rev. Wright Responds To Critics & Defends Sermons, Blackwater to Build Facility Near Mexican Border, UN Officals: Biofuels Are a “Crime Against Humanity”, Opec: Oil Prices Could Hit $200 A Barrel, Shell & BP Report Record Profits, Economists Question McCain and Clinton’s Gas Tax Proposal, Number of Vacant Homes in U.S. Reach 18.6 Million, Wells Fargo’s Subprime Loan Practices Come Under Scrutiny, Burger King Refuses to Increase Pay For Farmworkers, Longshoremen To Shut West Coast Ports on May 1 to Protest War, Antonin Scalia: Torture is Not “Cruel and Unusual Punishment”

Gaza food distribution halted, cooking gas running out
Electronic Intifada - 28 Apr 2008
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rJERUSALEM/GAZA, 28 April (IRIN) – The UN has stopped distributing food in the Gaza Strip as its main agencies have run out of fuel for vehicles. To make matters worse, many bakeries in the enclave were closed on 28 April as they had run out of gas. The World Food Program and the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA confirmed they had not delivered food aid since 26 April.

Support the Canadian Union of Postal Workers’ campaign against Israeli apartheid
Electronic Intifada - 28 Apr 2008
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rWe the undersigned organizations congratulate the Canadian Union of Postal workers (CUPW) for joining the international boycott of Israeli apartheid. We call on workers and labor unions worldwide to join CUPW in creating a strong and effective labor movement in solidarity with struggles against Israeli apartheid and violence.

A Simmering Battle Over Kirkuk
AlterNet: War on Iraq - 28 Apr 2008
Tensions are rising between Kurdish, Arab, and Turkmen factions over the heart of northern Iraq’s oil industry.

Half of Vets Suffering Brain and Mind Injuries Go Untreated, But Pentagon Pretends Nothing’s Going on
AlterNet: War on Iraq - 28 Apr 2008
An activist travels to the DoD’s annual suicide prevention conference, only to find the military brass living in a parallel universe.