The traitor Abbas and Sarkozy Say Yes. Huge Military Presence Would Guarantee "Demilitarization" of Region. As yet unconfirmed reports in multiple media outlets suggest that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had secretly agreed to allow a “huge deployment” of NATO troops into a future Palestinian state. Ironically this huge military presence is being sold as a means of guaranteeing that the state remains “demilitarized” after the end of the Israeli occupation. Abbas is said to have insisted that NATO would also be charged with protecting the nominally independent future state from future Israeli invasions. One of the reports suggested that the Jewish French President (Nicolas Sarkozy) had proposed the idea, and that it included 40,000 NATO troops for the West Bank.

[Editor's Comment:] 40,000 troops in this tiny and densely populated area sounds like a militarization to us. The Palestinians have no troops at all; the Israelis have plenty. -So, far from being a "demiltarization", this idea sounds like yet another occupation on top of the first one. The intention apparently is to smother Palestine with troops. When the NATO troops eventually pull out again, there will be precious few Palestinians left there and the land is there for the taking...for the Israelis.

Crude oil spread through fragile US marshlands Thursday, a month after a drilling rig blast released a devastating spill that now threatens Florida, Cuba and even beyond. Oil has been pouring into the Gulf of Mexico since the massive April 20 explosion on the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig that killed 11 and ruptured an underwater well pipe. While British Petroleum said Thursday that a tube was now siphoning away 3,000 barrels of oil a day from the leak, a nightmare scene was unfolding in Louisiana wetlands. AWIP: Gulf oil spill may be 19 times bigger than originally thought. Democratic Underground: Fishermen Report Illness From BP Chemicals.

Democracy Now: US Has Told BP "It Can Do Whatever It Wants and Won't Be Held Accountable": AMY GOODMAN: Do you think if BP executives were brought up on charges that we would see what we’re seeing in the Gulf of Mexico today? SCOTT WEST: Well, I doubt we would be having this discussion and we’d be dealing with a catastrophe like this in the Gulf. What the government has done over the past several years is taught BP that it can do whatever it wants and will not be held accountable. So, decisions have been made, very poor decisions have been made, to increase profits and put workers at risk and been allowed and endorsed by the federal government.

"Millions of Americans arrested for but not convicted of crimes will likely have their DNA forcibly extracted and added to a national database, according to a bill approved by the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday. By a 357 to 32 vote, the House approved legislation that will pay state governments to require DNA samples, which could mean drawing blood with a needle, from adults "arrested for" certain serious crimes. Not one Democrat voted against the database measure, which would hand out about $75 million to states that agree to make such testing mandatory. " - while you were watching the other hand.

The Taliban claim its militants have launched a wide-scale attack on a military camp in Afghanistan, killing at least 50 US-led troops and Afghan soldiers. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the militants attacked the base in Urgun in the southeastern province of Paktika on Friday, Press TV learned. The assailants raided the base using a truck containing 7000 kilograms of explosives. They detonated the truck after having entered the military camp, the spokesman explained. The armed militants, once inside, engaged the servicemen inside the base in a battle, Mujahid added.

The King of Norway supports cooperation between Oslo and Tehran on international issues, welcoming Iran's role in maintaining peace and security in Afghanistan. King Harald V made the remarks during a meeting with Iran's new ambassador to Norway Seyyed Hossein Rezvani on Thursday. The king also expressed hope that the Iranian envoy could help boost Norway-Iran ties in the political, economic and cultural fields. Citing Iran's "influential role" in regional developments concerning the Middle East, Iraq and Afghanistan, Rezvani said that Tehran is ready to expand its relations with Oslo regarding such issues based on "mutual respect."

Bill Gates’s Dad Says the Rich ‘Aren’t Paying Enough’ in Taxes - Bill Gates Sr. supports a proposed ballot initiative that would require the state’s highest earners including himself and his son to pay an income tax. Washington now collects no personal income taxes.

This is Rep. Alan Grayson discussing financial reform with Dylan Ratigan and Rep. Brad Miller.

The US state department says there "will definitely be consequences" for North Korea following the sinking of a South Korean warship in March. The North is facing international condemnation after investigators blamed it for the sinking of the ship, in which 46 sailors died. Pyongyang has rejected the claim as a "fabrication" and threatened war if sanctions were imposed. China urged restraint and did not criticise the North. The report - by a team including experts from the US, Australia, Britain and Sweden - concluded that a torpedo had sunk the Cheonan corvette. The investigators said parts of the torpedo found on the sea floor had lettering that "matched a North Korean design." CBS5: NKorea Warns Of War If Punished For Ship Sinking. Al Jazeera: North Korea has warned South Korea that it is pushing the peninsula towards war.

A judge will investigate claims that Britain's secret services were complicit in the torture of terrorism suspects after a spate of damaging allegations, foreign secretary William Hague said. Details of the probe were being worked out by his Conservative party and their coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats, and would be published soon, the minister said. A slew of allegations - including that of Binyam Mohamed who claims British intelligence services colluded in torturing him with US agents - have sparked a fierce row between the authorities and human rights campaigners.

Three Britons - all members of the same family - have been shot dead in a marriage dispute in eastern Pakistan, local police have said. Mohammad Yousaf, 51, his wife Perviaz, 49, and daughter Tanya, 21, were killed at a cemetery in a village near Gujrat. The three, of Nelson, Lancashire, were shot by four gunmen - understood to be related to them - after an argument broke out. Another woman was killed. Two men have been arrested while two others are on the run.

Five paintings by Picasso, Matisse and other great artists have been stolen from the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, French officials say. The paintings are estimated to be worth just under 100m euros (£86m; $123m). They were taken overnight on Wednesday and reported missing early on Thursday, officials say. The museum, across the River Seine from the Eiffel Tower, has been cordoned off by investigators. Security camera footage reportedly shows someone entering the museum through a window during the night. "This is a serious crime to the heritage of humanity," Christophe Girard, deputy culture secretary at the Paris Town Hall, told a news conference. AWIP: Masked thief steals priceless masterpieces from Paris museum.

On April 15, the Haitian Parliament ratified a law extending by 18 months the state of emergency that President René Préval declared after the earthquake of January 12. The Parliament also formally ceded its powers over finances and reconstruction, during the state of emergency, to a foreign-led Interim Commission for the Reconstruction of Haiti (CIRH). The CIRH's mandate is to direct the post-earthquake reconstruction of Haiti through the $9.9 billion in pledges of international aid, including approving policies, projects, and budgeting. The World Bank will manage the money.