Grain prices to soar by 35% in poor countries in 2008; US Senate bans harsh interrogations; bomb kills top Hezbollah agent in Damascus...

14 February :: Record-high grain prices will cause an untenable 35% minimum increase in poor nations' expenditures for cereals imports through July 2008, reports UN Food and Agriculture Organization; prices have increased rapidly due to record oil prices, dramatic deterioration of arable land in China — turning world's most populous nation into net importer of grain—, and diversion of crops in US, Brazil (world's top grain exporters) to bio-ethanol fuel production; combination of economic pressures expected to force a net reduction in expenditure for grain imports, signaling likely severe food shortages in poor countries... US Senate votes to ban waterboarding, other coercive interrogation techniques used by CIA in terrorist cases where gov't claims existing laws do not limit agents' behavior; Pres. Bush has said he will veto the intelligence bill if the ban were included; Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), a former PoW in Vietnam, who was subjected to torture, voted against the ban, while Democratic presidential candidates Clinton (D-NY) and Obama (D-IL) did not vote, as they are hotly contesting upcoming primaries across the nation... Top Hezbollah "security strategist" Imad Mughniyeh assassinated in car bombing in Damascus, Syria, Israel said to be bracing for reprisals; many speculate Israeli security forces were behind the killing, though Israel's prime minister Ehud Olmert has issued a statement saying "Israel rejects the attempts of terror elements to attribute to Israel any involvement"; Mughniyeh was considered responsible for many of Hezbollah's most serious attacks in the 1980s; a Lebanese parliament minister said of Mughniyeh "This is a loss of a major pillar in resistance work. He was an expert at making victories and building fighting capacities against Israel. He played an essential role in all resistance activities, especially the last war", some speculate the killing could lead to another Israel-Hezbollah war along the disputed Lebanese border areas...

POTOMAC PRIMARIES: Obama sweeps VA, DC, MD by wide margins, claims frontrunner status; McCain widens lead with sweep as well...

Illinois senator Barack Obama scored three convincing wins over rival Hillary Clinton, senator for New York, in the Democrats' 'Potomac primaries'. Obama won Virginia by a margin of 64% tp 35%, Maryland by a margin of 60% to 37%, and the District of Columbia by a margin of 75% to 24%, over Clinton. Sen. Clinton declined to congratulate her opponent for the victories and has focused her campaign's attention on upcoming contests. She also chided the Illinois senator for not yet accepting an invitation to debate in Wisconsin ahead of the primary there next Tuesday.

Arizona senator John McCain has hardened the perception that he is the nominee of his party, sweeping the same three primaries. Conservatives in Virginia showed skepticism for some of his policies and/or senatorial record, shifting their vote to Mike Huckabee. McCain has sought to assuage doubts about his allegiance to current GOP policies by voting against a ban on harsh interrogation techniques and promising to make Bush's 2001 and 2003 tax cuts permanent, though he initially opposed them.

McCain has also begun to attack the new Democratic frontrunner personally, with Obama responding that he respects McCain's record of service, disagrees with his policies and looks forward to a vigorous debate (should he win his party's nomination). Ironically, McCain also sought to take up the mantle of Obama's crusade for change, using Obama's very words and claiming he's "fired up and ready to go".

ELECTION IRREGULARITIES: Louisiana Democrats Disenfranchised When Party Registration Switched

The presidential campaign of Barack Obama has issued a statement regarding reports of voter-registration irregularities in Louisiana that allegedly led to the denial of the vote to hundreds of people. The Obama campaign website published the following:

The Obama campaign submitted an urgent request for assistance to the Secretary of State’s Division of Elections today, after receiving widespread reports from Democrats across Louisiana who reported that they were not allowed to vote because their party affiliation had been switched. Hundreds of Louisiana democrats went to the polls to vote in today’s presidential primary and found that they were now on registration lists as Independent or Unaffiliated voters.

The outcome of the voting in Louisiana appears to be a win for the Illinois senator, but his campaign has been vehement in pushing for greater access to the polls for would-be voters, and took issue with the manner in which voters' party registration was allegedly switched without their knowledge.

The investigative blogsite, Bradblog, has published this summary of a wave of irregularities in the primaries held in recent days:

Georgia: Widespread bottlenecks for voters as problems occur with Diebold's new e-pollbook system and the state's new Photo ID restrictions. Voters waited in line for up to two hours in some places.

New Mexico: 17,000 (11%) forced to vote on provisional ballots in Democratic Caucus as previously registered Democrats find they are no longer on voter rolls recently privatized by voting machine company ES&S.

Arizona: We've begun receiving reports from voters and local officials of polling places where some 40% of voters were forced to vote on provisionals, after state registration system outsourced to ES&S. [UPDATE: One such report is now published here, from a poll worker who reports that of 1291 ballots cast at her polling place, 540 --- some 41% --- were forced to vote provisionally.]

California: Various reports of voters registered for one party to find they were switched to another, or not registered at all. Confusion about how to handle non-partisan voters in Los Angeles County leads to nearly 100,000 votes which may not be counted properly.

Problems with electronic voter-registration records, with the management of these systems by private contractors, and especially where non-verifiable touchscreen machines have been used —leaving no physical record of voter intent, only a potentially (and in many cases to date proven to be) flawed electronic "tally"— are occurring in a disturbingly high number of places, and irregularities are already threatening to undermine the overall integrity of the 2008 election process across the United States.

• Brad Friedman: "Obama Camp Sends 'Urgent Request for Assistance' to Louisiana SoS as Voters Find Party Registration Switched"
• VotersUnite.org: "A non-partisan national grassroots resource for fair and accurate elections"
• Freedom's Phoenix: "To Arizona Voters & Ron Paul supporters... a story from inside the Election Process by Jeneen Zucker"

ELECTION IRREGULARITIES: Washington GOP Primary Called with 242 Vote Margin at Just 87% of Count

The presidential campaign of Mike Huckabee is "exploring all available legal options regarding the dubious final results for the state of Washington State Republican precinct caucuses". The state's Republican party halted the count at 87% of votes counted, a margin of just 242 votes separating John McCain from Mike Huckabee, and a reported 12,000 votes tallied to that point. Ron Paul was just 427 points behind Huckabee, in third place, when the counting was stopped.

The state Republican party then issued a press release around 2:30 am declaring John McCain the winner of the primary, despite not completing the vote count. At least 1,500 votes were expected uncounted when the state was called for McCain by the party, raising serious issues about the caucus organizers' adherence to the "intent of the voter" principle. The Huckabee statement goes on to declare that "more than one in eight Evergreen State Republicans have been disenfranchised by the actions of their own party."

• Brad Friedman: "Huckabee 'Not Ready to Concede', 'Looking at Some Legal Options' in 'Dubious' Washington State GOP Caucus"
• Huckabee Campaign: "Mike Huckabee's Presidential Campaign Issues Statement On Dubious Washington State GOP Caucuses"

Khmer Rouge tribunal facing budget crisis; G7 warn global economy at risk; Obama takes Wash., Louisiana, Nebraska; Huckabee takes Kansas, LA......

10 February :: Highest official yet from Khmer Rouge Cambodian regime, accused of murdering 1.7 million people in ideological purge 3 decades ago, stands trial, but tribunal is facing managerial crisis, related to allegations of mismanagement and lack of sustainable budget... Financial ministers from the "G7" group of industrialized democracies have said the prosperity of the world economy is at risk, citing a reduction in available credit, the collapse of the US housing market, and soaring petroleum prices... Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) has won three decisive victories in primary votes this Saturday, defeating rival Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) in Washington, Louisiana and Nebraska; the margin of victory was surprisingly wide in both Washington and Nebraska, roughly 68% to 32% over Clinton; turnout surged in Saturday's primaries, as it has elsewhere this year: NYT reports "In Washington, the Democratic party reported record-breaking numbers of caucusgoers, with early totals suggesting turnout would be nearly be nearly double what it was in 2004 — itself a record year — when 100,000 Democrats caucused"... Fmr Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee won the Republican contests in Louisiana and Kansas, surprising a party that has begun to rally around Sen. John McCain (AZ), its "presumptive nominee"; Huckabee has said he does not intend to withdraw from the race, despite McCain's massive lead in delegates to the Republican nominating convention; in Kansas, Huckabee took 60% of the vote, compared with McCain's 24%... Daily News reports "Calling herself a 'mother first,' Sen. Hillary Clinton blasted MSNBC Saturday and demanded further disciplinary action against a correspondent who suggested 27-year-old Chelsea had been 'pimped out' by her presidential campaign"; in a letter to NBC News president Steve Capus, the New York senator wrote "There's a lot at stake for our country in this election. Surely, you can do your jobs as journalists and commentators and still keep the discourse civil and appropriate"...