We recently noted an internal shake-up in the Libyan regime that seemed to signal a tilt back to the sidelined hardliners. This seems not to have affected Washington's plans, announced today, to restore diplomatic relations. This may actually reveal something about a strategic shift underway in Washington—away from the hubristic neocons, with their ambitions to remake the world, and back towards pragmatists (typified by the Trilateral Commission) who believe in wooing recalcitrant regimes into the pro-West fold rather than overthrowing them. Note that Washington appears to be racing for Qadaffi's good graces with Hugo Chávez, who would doubtless woo Libya (and its oil) for his Third Worldist agenda...

After 63 days on hunger strike, four jailed Mapuche rights activists agreed to temporarily suspend their protest on May 14 after reaching an agreement with Chilean legislators. In exchange for an end to the fast, the government promised to give urgent attention to a proposed law allowing supervised release, introduced by Socialist Party (PS) senator Alejandro Navarro. Navarro and fellow PS senator Jaime Naranjo helped broker the agreement, with mediation from Temuco bishop Manuel Camilo Vial and from lonko (Mapuche community leader) Jose Cariqueo.

From AP, May 13:

WASHINGTON - President Bush, trying to build momentum for an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws, is considering plans to shore up the Mexican border with National Guard troops paid for by the federal government, the Associated Press reported Friday, citing unnamed administration officials.

From the Iraqi Freedom Congress, May 14:

During his visit to the United States to deliver workshops and seminars and meet with the leaders of the anti war movement, Samir Adil, president of the Iraqi Freedom Congress (IFC) met coincidently with Richard Perle (The former Chairman of the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee in the US, whose role [is] known as the war on Iraq engineer and the closest advisor to Donald Rumsfeld and George Bush) in a press conference in Washington.

According to this decision, if he married her now and she was under 25, an Israeli parliamentarian's wife wouldn't be allowed to live with him in Israel. From Ha'aretz, May 14:

MK Barakeh: High Court ruling supplies an 'alibi for racism'
Senior Arab Israeli lawmaker Mohammed Barakeh on Sunday strongly condemned the High Court's ruling banning Israeli Arabs and their Palestinian spouses from living together, saying it "gives racism a shady alibi."

C'mon already. 9-11 was almost five years ago. When are people gonna knock it off already? From Newsday, May 13:

LI Sikh angered by terror suspicion
Indian immigrant Jaspal Arora, a religious Sikh, wears a turban everywhere he goes, including to morning workouts at the Mid-Island Y Jewish Community Center in Plainview.

Nine bombs exploded across Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa May 12, killing four people and wounding dozens. (AP, May 13) The Oromi separatists deny involvement. But Ethiopia has no shortage of ethnic separatist struggles, as we have noted. And also no shortage of reasons to suspect its own government. From the Sudan Tribune, May 13:

Hundreds of mostly young protesters blocked traffic throughout Mexico City yesterday to demand the release of those arrested in the unrest at the village of San Salvador Atenco a week earlier. APRO reported more than 20 blockades throughout the Federal District. Tear gas was used in one instance, but police refrained from massive arrests, in an apparent bid to calm the situation. From Reuters, May 11: