MEDIA SCOUT: al-Sadr aide killed; food crisis increases

April 11, 2008 at 7:28am

From Iraq: The New York Times is reporting that a top aide to Iraqi cleric Moktada al-Sadr has been killed. Only sketchy information is available, but the aide's death seems certain to threaten the shaky cease-fire that al-Sadr has overseen.

While the presidential race and Iraq are dominating the discussion for many of us, NPR reminded us this morning of another major news development: a growing international food crisis. Shortages of such staples as rice, and the resulting high prices, have caused riots in Haiti and Egypt. Demand for ethanol and other biofuels is a major contributor, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said in a news conference yesterday. And "droughts, financial market speculators, and increased demand for food have also helped create "a perfect storm" that has boosted those prices," NPR reports.

The Bush administration needs to stop the "bluster" and be far more aggressive in using diplomacy to counter the threat Iran is posing, a New York Times editorial urges this morning. As Iran "moves closer to mastering the hardest part of building a nuclear weapon," the Times says, "all of the major powers are appallingly adrift....

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