cat and mouse [destruction in their wake]

NYT: US to make enormous prison in Bagram, Afghanistan more permanent, less "spartan"; unlikely to be "more legal"
you have to wait til the last three paragraphs to learn:
"The population at Bagram began to swell after administration officials halted the flow of prisoners to Guantánamo in September 2004, a cutoff that largely remains in effect. At the same time, the population of detainees at Bagram also began to rise with the resurgence of the Taliban.
Military personnel who know both Bagram and Guantánamo describe the Afghan site, 40 miles north of Kabul, as far more spartan. Bagram prisoners have fewer privileges, less ability to contest their detention and no access to lawyers.
Some detainees have been held without charge for more than five years, officials said. As of April, about 10 juveniles were being held at Bagram, according to a recent American report to a United Nations committee."
BBC: meanwhile, aid destined for civilians doesn't arrive

WP: Iraqi refugees not receiving enough either
LAT: Iraqi government offers amnesty to militia members in Mosul
"'Gunmen who carried weapons against government forces but were not involved in crimes against civilians shall be granted amnesty and also the opportunity to participate in building the new Iraq,' the statement said." Maliki says "monetary compensation" will be offered to weapons turned in.
Ind: camera phones fuel honor killings in Iraq; women's status in Iraq worse than before occupation
"In 2007, at least 350 women, double the figure for the previous year, suffered violence as a result of mobile phone "evidence", according to Amanj Khalil of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, citing figures compiled by women's organisations and the police directorate in Sulaymaniyah.The true figure is probably much higher...The position of women in Iraqi society has deteriorated dramatically since the start of the occupation. Despite the horrific number of honour killings, their status may be improving only in Kurdistan, where the government is secular, in contrast to Baghdad where the religious parties hold power. The Kurdish police and courts are also more sympathetic than elsewhere in Iraq to women whose lives have been threatened. There are no shelters for women in Baghdad or Basra...A woman can only get a new passport if she is accompanied by a male relative. One woman, whose father was too ill to attend the passport office, had to take her 14-year-old brother with her to vouch for her before officials would give her a new passport. Many women escape from miserable marriages, often arranged by their families, not by flight but by suicide. In 2007, some 600 women and girls in Kurdistan killed themselves..."

WP: US "reward for justice" not working
WP: the back story, on scoring an interview with a bounty-bound Yemeni, is more interesting

LAT: quake response may signal important changes in China
or not: "A government rooted in authoritarianism and with the world's largest army may be in a better position to marshal relief resources and manpower than a decentralized democracy."

BBC: Burma continues to obstruct aid efforts; France's UN envoy says it could lead to crime against humanity

NYT: the horn of Africa "perfect storm" of hunger and violence

BBC: Tsvangirai delays return because of assassination plot; US Ambassador says violence "out of control"

BBC: former RUF leader Sesay on trial in Sierra Leone

BBC: Dominican president wins 3rd term

BBC: reverse-colonial influence: Portuguese parliament approves bill conforming language to Brazilian standards

BBC: cat chases mouse, causes 72-hour blackout in Albania [this really happened]

Slate: Bushism of the day [he really said that]
"I'll be long gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened inside this Oval Office."—Washington, D.C., May 12, 2008