US and Iranian diplomats met in Baghdad for their first formal direct talks in more than a quarter of a century May 28, to discuss the security situation in Iraq. Washington's ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker called the proceedings "businesslike." (LAT, May 28) Meanwhile in Iran, authorities summoned the Swiss Ambassador Philippe Welti to complain that a US espionage network organizing sabotage and subversion campaigns has been discovered.

Since his election as Nicaragua's president last November, Daniel Ortega of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) has pledged to end his country's participation in the IMF, weighed in for Iran's right to nuclear power, and announced new drives for rural literacy and development. Our May issue featured the story "The Return of Plan Puebla-Panama: the New Struggle for the Isthmus" by WW4 REPORT editor Bill Weinberg, noting how Nicaragua has become pivotal in a race between two regional development plans for Central America: the US-backed PPP, which aims at building the infrastructure to facilitate CAFTA; and the populist Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), pushed by Venezuela's Hugo Chávez. Tensions are rapidly escalating between Nicaragua and the US allies in the region—Honduras, Costa Rica and, most significantly, Colombia. We also featured the retrospective "Sandinista Redux: Nicaragua Sticks It to Tio Sam —Again!" by Michael I. Niman of Art Voice weekly in Buffalo, NY, which looked back at the US destabilization campaign against Nicaragua the last time Ortega was in power in the 1980s. Our May Exit Poll was: "Were you obsessed with Nicaragua in the '80s? Are you feeling nostalgic since Daniel Ortega's resumption of power? C'mon, tell the truth." We received the following responses:

Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez called on Pope Benedict XVI to apologize to the indigenous people of Latin America for his comments on the evangelization of the region. During an official visit to Brazil last week, the Pope defended the evangelization of the indigenous people of Latin America, claiming that Christianity had not been "imposed" upon them. Chavez disputed this in a speech Friday night, calling on his nation to challenge the old capitalist hegemony and create a new society.

Busloads of people surrounded the Salvador del Mundo monument in front of the Canadian Embassy in San Salvador today to protest the Canadian Government’s role Central American mining, and specifically in the 29 mining projects currently active in El Salvador. The event was the culmination of the Central American Alliance against Metallic Mining conference held last weekend in Cabañas, El Salvador, where the Canadian "Pacific Rim" company is currently operating.

Police in southern China's Guangxi region arrested 28 as thousands staged angry protests against draconian local enforcement of the government's family-planning policy. In Bobai county, more than 3,000 people smashed through the gates of a town government compound, setting fire to vehicles and damaging files and office equipment. Disturbances were reported in sveen Bobai towns following a drive by local officials to enforce fines for families who failed to comply with China's national one-child policy.

The United States has sped up its commitment of military aid to the Lebanese army. Three out of a proposed eight military supply planes have arrived in Beirut thus far. The steps are designed to bolster efforts to dislodge Fatah al-Islam combatants from the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp. [AlJazeera, May 25]

Israeli fighter jets carried out an air strike in close proximity to the Gaza residence of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya on [May 24], yet Israeli officials have insisted that Haniya was not the intended target. Another strike leveled the premises of the Hamas-linked Executive Force paramilitary group, injuring five bystanders. [AlJazeera, May 24]

In the wake of the May 22 bombing in Ankara, Turkey has ordered a convoy of tanks and armored vehicles from the southeastern city of Mardin to the Iraqi frontier. At the same time, the idea of a cross-border operation to rout PKK bases in Iraqi territory is gaining greater currency in the capital. The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) has long been seeking approval for such incursions, with Chief of Staff Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt publicly putting the proposal to the government last month. Now Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan appears to be leaning in that direction. On the night of May 23, hours after authorities said the PKK was behind the bombing, he told national television: "We would do whatever is necessary for the peace and happiness of our country. It is out of the question for us to fall into a disagreement with our security forces and soldiers on this issue... When necessary, this step would be taken, there would be no delay."