The Latest news on Presidential primaries, Soldiers in Iraq, Education, Poverty, Graham home, Pakistan, Darfur, Cuba, Kosovo, AIDS in Africa, Kenya, Iraq, Blair & EU, Israel-Palestine, and selected Op-Eds.

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Presidential primaries. Wisconsin Voters Give Obama Decisive Victory "Sen. Barack Obama won the Wisconsin Democratic primary decisively, extending his winning streak to nine consecutive contests … In Wisconsin's Republican primary, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) won an easy victory over former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, moving him ever closer to clinching the party's nomination." Wisconsin Hands Obama a Victory, the Ninth in a Row"Barack Obama cut into Hillary Rodham Clinton's long-held support among women, union members and middle-aged voters in Tuesday's primary." It's now Obama's race to win "Illinois Sen. Barack Obama storms out of Wisconsin firmly in command of the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination and poised to inflict a potentially fatal blow to New York Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign." With Victory in Wisconsin, McCain Is Talking Like a Nominee "A triumphant Sen. John McCain claimed the Republican presidential nomination as his own after easily winning the Wisconsin primary, for the first time acknowledging his success at besting a crowded, fractured field of GOP hopefuls."

Soldiers in Iraq. U.S. soldiers likely to see shorter tours "Soldiers heading to war this summer are likely to see their tours shortened from 15 months to 12 months, even if troop cuts in Iraq are suspended in July as expected,"

Education. Higher Education Gap May Slow Economic Mobility "Economic mobility, the chance that children of the poor or middle class will climb up the income ladder, has not changed significantly over the last three decades, … widening gaps in higher education between rich and poor, whites and minorities, could soon lead to a downturn in opportunities for the poorest families." Wealth Gap Growing Bigger Among American Colleges "even as Congress presses wealthy colleges and universities to spend more of their endowments, they continue on a fund-raising streak that will widen the wealth gap in higher education."

Poverty. Taste of poverty proves enlightening "As part of an innovative program to give policymakers firsthand knowledge of what it is like to be poor, … more than 2,500 people in Georgia who have participated in a simulation program called "Step Up Savannah." For one day, a bank president, a school principal and even the mayor have put their titles aside and played roles such as an unemployed spouse with a baby on the way, an elderly man on a fixed income -"

Graham home. Billy Graham home following surgery "Evangelist Billy Graham returned to his mountainside home Tuesday to continue his recovery from surgery to update a shunt that controls excess fluid on his brain, officials said."

Pakistan. After defeat for Musharraf, Pakistan awaits new government "Pakistanis celebrated a return to civilian rule in National Assembly elections that overwhelmingly endorsed opposition parties and dealt a devastating defeat to President Pervez Musharraf." Musharraf vows not to resign"President Pervez Musharraf pledged to complete his five-year term in defiance of opposition demands that he step down, setting the stage for a confrontation with the incoming government." Pakistan Remakes Its Political Landscape "A new political era dawned in Pakistan as partial results from Monday's parliamentary elections showed the opposition scoring a landslide win, the party allied with President Pervez Musharraf conceded defeat, and secular candidates ousted religious parties." Pakistan Victors Want Dialogue With Militants"The winners of Pakistan's parliamentary elections said that they would take a new approach to fighting Islamic militants by pursuing more dialogue than military confrontation," U.S. mulls ally's possible shifts "As vote tallying confirmed a commanding victory for his political opponents, President Pervez Musharraf's setback in parliamentary elections raised new questions Tuesday about his hold on power,"

Darfur. Bush Stopover In Rwanda Evokes Darfur "For President Bush, a visit to the Kigali Memorial Center evokes not just stomach-churning visions of what happened here 14 years ago but haunting questions about what is happening even now on another part of the African continent." Bush cites Rwanda's lessons in Darfur crisis "President Bush, expressing frustration that the United Nations has had a difficult time raising and deploying a sufficient peacekeeping force in Darfur, said that the 1994 Rwandan genocide should have taught the world not to ignore signs of budding brutality." Bush Pledges U.S. $100 Million for Darfur Peacekeeping "President George W. Bush announced in Rwanda Tuesday hat the United States would provide African nations with U.S. $100 million for peacekeeping in Darfur, including $12 million for Rwanda." Sudan: Fresh Round of Aerial Bombing in West Darfur Forces UN Staff to Relocate "The United Nations refugee agency has had to withdraw its staff from the volatile Sudanese-Chadian border area after a series of aerial bombardments over the past two days in West Darfur…"

Cuba. Illness forces Castro to quit "Fidel Castro, leader of Cuba for almost half a century, stepped down as president in a move that raised the prospect of the opening-up one of the world's last communist states." Change Toward Cuba Likely to Come Slowly "Those hoping for a new U.S. policy toward Cuba have waited nearly 50 years for Fidel Castro to step down. But they will have to wait at least one more year, after President Bush leaves office, to see any possibility of change in the hard-line U.S. position that has transcended nine administrations." Cuba without Fidel? It's same old story "even at the epochal moment of his departure, U.S. hopes for dramatic change are muted. Limited steps toward economic liberalization are possible, but no one is forecasting the advent of Western-style political freedoms anytime soon." Castro Circle Likely to Hold Power After His Resignation"Raul Castrohas talked about bringing more accountability to government and possibly working to improve relations with the United States. But since taking over temporarily in the summer of 2006, he has largely operated in his brother's shadow,"

Kosovo. Moscow condemns plan for EU police mission to Kosovo "Russia says sending police to secure independence would be breach of international law." EU Kosovo mission branded illegal "Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has declared the EU's police and justice mission to Kosovo illegal. He told reporters that Brussels' "unilateral decision... is in breach of the highest international law". Canada tips its hand with silence on Kosovo "Kosovo has split the nations of the world into two clubs: those who fear their own disintegration and those who do not. The Canadian government has signalled through silence that secession, even in the Balkans, is still too close to home."

AIDS in Africa. African AIDS Crisis Outlives $15 Billion Bush Initiative "Five years after President Bush vowed to "turn the tide against AIDS" in Africa, he is traveling across a continent where the government's $15 billion investment has extended the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and eased the sense of certain doom once experienced..."

Kenya. Kenya opposition threatens new protests"The Kenyan opposition today threatened to resume mass protests amid increasing impatience at the failure to achieve progress in power-sharing talks with the government."

Iraq. Radical Shiite cleric threatens to end 6-month cease-fire "Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has threatened to lift a six-month cease-fire, credited with helping to reduce violence in Iraq, by the end of the week," Cleric threatens to end Iraq ceasefire"The radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr today threatened to end a crucial six-month ceasefire that has been credited with halving the level of violence in Iraq."

Blair & EU. Stop Blair: ambition to lead Europe hits fierce opposition "Tony Blair's hopes of becoming Europe's first president are running into mounting opposition across the EU, with Germany determined to stymie the former prime minister."

Israel-Palestine. Abbas and Olmert Struggle to Move Talks Forward "The Israeli and Palestinian leaders met on Tuesday amid growing dissonance over the content of their talks and the kind of agreement they are trying to achieve." Jerusalem Debate / They're both right "In the most recent dispute between Israel and the Palestinian Authority about beginning negotiations over Jerusalem, both parties are in the right." Palestinians 'may declare state' "A senior Palestinian official has said the Palestinians ought to unilaterally declare a state if peace talks with Israel do not succeed."

Op-Ed.

Attack Iran, With Words(REUEL MARC GERECHT, New York Times) "FOR those who believe - as I do - that the clerics who rule Iran must never have an arsenal of nuclear weapons, the United States' course of action ought to be clear: The Bush administration should advocate direct, unconditional talks between Washington and Tehran. Strategically, politically and morally, such meetings will help us think more clearly."