U.S. Death Toll in Iraq Hits 7-Month High
AlterNet: War on Iraq - 1 May 2008
The killing of three U.S. soldiers in Baghdad raised the number killed in April to 47, reversing a trend towards lower American casualties.

Azerbaijan releases Russian equipment for Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant
Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII) - 1 May 2008
Summary: Bushehr Nuclear PlantBAKU, Azerbaijan: Azerbaijan released a shipment of Russian equipment for Iran’s first nuclear power plant on Thursday, more than a month after it was halted at its border, a customs official said. source: APread more

Southern California Residents Gear Up for New Fight to Stop Secretive Expansion by Military Firm Blackwater
Democracy Now - 1 May 2008
Just two months after local opposition thwarted its effort to build a massive outdoor training facility near San Diego, the private military company BlackwaterUSA is being accused of trying to secretly build a new one just blocks from the U.S.-Mexican border. Blackwater received approval for the 61,000 square-foot indoor facility in Otay Mesa, California by filing for permits using the names of two subsidiaries.

After More than Six Years, Al Jazeera Cameraman Sami al-Haj Released from Guantanamo Bay
Democracy Now - 1 May 2008
Arrested in Pakistan in December 2001, Sami al-Haj spent nearly six-and-a-half years at Guantanamo without charge or trial. He had been on a more than a year-long hunger strike to protest his imprisonment. We hear al-Haj’s first public remarks from his hospital bed in Sudan and speak to his brother, Asim al-Haj. [includes rush transcript]

25,000 Dockworkers Shut Down West Coast Ports in Historic Antiwar Protest
Democracy Now - 1 May 2008
In the largest labor strike since the invasion of Iraq, ports along the West Coast—all twenty-nine of them—were shut down as some 25,000 dockworkers went on a one-day strike to protest the war. We speak to Jack Heyman of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. [includes rush transcript]

Secretaries of State Debra Bowen of California and Robin Carnahan of Missouri on Voting Issues in a Year of Soaring Turnout
Democracy Now - 1 May 2008
We speak to the top election officials from two states—California Secretary of State Debra Bowen and Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan—about some of the contentious issues facing the American electorate ahead of the November presidential election. Earlier this week, the Supreme Court upheld an Indiana law requiring voters to show photo identification. Many Democrats and civil rights groups have opposed the law, saying it is a thinly veiled effort to suppress elderly, poor and minority voters?those most likely to lack proper ID and who tend to vote for Democrats.

Headlines for May 2, 2008
Democracy Now - 1 May 2008
Al Jazeera Cameraman Sami al-Haj Freed From Guantanamo, 36 Killed, 65 Wounded in Baghdad Suicide Bombing, Turkey Resumes Attacks in Northern Iraq, Protests Mark 5 Years Since ?Mission Accomplished?, Tens of Thousands Rally for Immigrant Rights, Dockworkers Shut Down Ports in Anti-War Protest, Bush Admin Forces Out EPA Regulator Who Sought Regulation of Dow, Bush Proposes Additional Food Aid, Exxon Posts $10.89B Quarterly Profit, Nicaraguan President Accuses U.S. of De-Stabilization, New Zealand Activists Damage U.S.-Linked Spy Base

Gaza resident dies awaiting permission for cancer treatment
Electronic Intifada - 1 May 2008
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rMohammed al-Hurani, a 33-year-old resident of Gaza, died 30 April 2008 of cancer while waiting for a reply from the Israel General Security Service to a request from Physicians for Human Rights-Israel. Although al-Hurani was in a grave condition, confined to a bed in hospital, the GSS demanded that the patient come for security questioning at Erez Crossing on 27 April.

Rare Israeli conviction in 2002 killing of Palestinian
Electronic Intifada - 1 May 2008
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rOn 28 April, Israel’s Jerusalem District Court sentenced border policeman Yanai Lazla to six years’ imprisonment for the killing, in 2002, of ‘Amran Abu Hamdiya, 18, from the West Bank town of Hebron. Lazla and three other policemen threw Abu Hamdiya from a jeep moving at high speed after they had abducted, beaten and abused him. His head struck the pavement with great force, killing him.