Caught between Hamas rockets and an Israeli blockade, Palestinian refugees in Gaza are bearing the brunt of a tense geopolitical standoff. For the second time in a week, the UN has been forced to halt its provision of food aid to 1.5 million Gazans due to a shortage of fuel caused by the blockade.

Unlike the situation in Eritrea, where the Eritrean government withheld fuel out of animosity for UN peacekeepers, Israel is not deliberately trying to starve the UN of fuel. Nor, of course, is it expressly targeting Gaza's refugee population. Rather, the motivation of the blockade is to deter Hamas -- which an Israeli official accuses of "deliberately holding up supplies for its own political reasons" -- from launching rocket attacks into southern Israel. Yet the UN special envoy to Gaza, while condemning Hamas' attacks, also identified Israel's blockade as effectively "collective punishment."

Apportioning blame in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is inevitably a politically contentious endeavor. While both sides surely deserve censure, in this case it is ultimately unproductive. The ultimate losers in this battle are the million-plus innocent Gazans who rely on humanitarian relief, and both Hamas and Israel should recognize that these civilians will require some degree of cooperation to ensure that their dire needs can be met.

From the UN News Center:

The United Nations has offered its assistance to Myanmar authorities in responding to the deadly cyclone which struck the South-East Asian nation on Friday, leaving death and widespread devastation in its wake. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Cyclone Nargis made landfall in the Irrawaddy delta region, some 250 kilometres southwest of Yangon around 4 pm on 2 May. With winds of over 190 kilometres per hour, the storm hit Yangon later that same night, tearing down tears and power lines and causing widespread flooding. Thousands have reportedly been killed.

Read more.

File this under dog bites man: conservative critics are falsely accusing Barak Obama of supporting a non-existent UN plan to impose a global tax on American citizens.

Here's the story. A number of right wing blogs are suddenly re-circulating months old columns by anti-UN propogandists Phyllis Schlafly and Cliff Kincaid which excoriate Barak Obama for introducing the Global Poverty Act. Kincaid Calls it "Obama's Global Tax Plan" and Schlafly says its "Obama's Sovereignty Giveaway Plan."

So which is it? Neither, of course. In December 2007, Obama sponsored the thoroughly bi-partisan Global Poverty Act, which does not impose a global tax on Americans. It would, however, "require the President to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to further the United States foreign policy objective of promoting the reduction of global poverty, the elimination of extreme global poverty, and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal of reducing by one-half the proportion of people, between 1990 and 2015, who live on less than $1 per day."

The UN-bashing horde quickly seized on the bill's reference to the Millennium Development Goals to advance one of their favorite canards: that the organization will impose a tax on American citizens. Says Schlafly,

"By adopting the Millennium Goals in 2000, the U.N. escalated its demands to impose international taxes. Specifically, the Millennium called for a "currency transfer tax," a "tax on the rental value of land and natural resources," a "royalty on worldwide fossil energy projection -- oil, natural gas, coal," "fees for the commercial use of the oceans, fees for airplane use of the skies, fees for use of the electromagnetic spectrum, fees on foreign exchange transactions, and a tax on the carbon content of fuels." to the UN to tax American citizens.

No, it doesn't. The Senate bill states specifically that by "Millennium Development Goals" it is referring to the goals set out in this document, a General Assembly Resolution adopted in September 2000. No where does the document say anything about a currency tax, royalties on fossil fuels, or airplane fees. No where. Search for yourself. She's just making this up to tarnish the United Nations and her domestic political rivals.

Why bloggers are deciding to re-circulate this dreck right now, I have no clue.

UPDATE: Via Kathy G, Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri is planning to award Phyllis Schlafly with an honorary doctorate. Oy.

>>Myanmar - Cyclone Nargis slammed into the Irrawaddy delta on Saturday, leaving 4,000 dead, 3,000 missing, and hundreds of thousands without shelter. The nation's military junta made a rare appeal for international assistance. Relief agencies met at the UN's offices in Bangkok to coordinate their response. Myanmar is scheduled to hold a referendum on a new constitution next week, and the government's response to the cyclone could shape that vote.

>>Iraq - According to four Shi'ite militiamen captured in Iraq and questioned separately, Hezbollah has been training Iraqi militiamen at a base near Tehran. The U.S. has made such accusations in the past, and Iran has denied those accusations. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced Sunday that Iraq would launch its own investigation into the matter.

>>Somalia - Tens of thousands of people rioted today in Mogadishu over high food prices. The riot began with the refusal of traders to accept old 1,000-shilling notes, which they claim are worsening inflation.

>>Bolivia - Yesterday, Bolivia's richest region, Santa Cruz, voted overwhelmingly for autonomy in a referendum boycotted by supporters of Evo Morales. The vote, the first of four on greater autonomy for eastern provinces, is seen as a rejection of Morales's leftist reforms. Morales has said that, because of the boycott, the vote is invalid.

• Necessary but not necessarily sufficient
• PSA

Africa

• Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe opposition mulls conditions for run-off
• Nigeria - Nigeria oil rebels say mulling Obama truce appeal
• Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe teachers threaten strike
• Sudan - Sudan to ask donors for $6 bln at Oslo meeting

Americas

• Chile - Chilean volcano erupts after 2,000 years of silence
• Brazil - Search continues for Britons missing in Brazil
• U.S. - US 'to send 7,000 extra troops to Afghanistan'
• Mexico - Mexico Cites Reprisals in Killings of 9 Officers
• Bolivia - Clashes Break Out as Bolivian Province Votes on More Autonomy
• U.S. - Outrage over plans to extract uranium ore from the Grand Canyon

Asia

• Malaysia - Malaysia plans women travel curb
• Indonesia - Asian nations to work together on rice
• China - Olympic Torch Begins Three-Month Relay Through China's Cities
• Taiwan - Awaiting Tourism Deal, Taiwan Is Primed for More Mainland Chinese Visitors
• China - Hundreds protest against China chemical plant
• East Timor - Indonesia extradites East Timor army rebels
• Indonesia - Indonesia detains militant over 2005 Bali bombings

Europe

• Latvia - Mass evacuation from Baltic ship
• France - France's Fillon sticks to reform path despite polls

Middle East

• Iraq - Iraq First Lady survives bombing
• Yemen - Bid to salvage Shia-Yemen truce
• Israel - Condoleeza Rice: peace in Middle East could be reached this year
• Israel - Rice maintains heat on Israel over settlements
• Iran - Iran to reject incentives that violate atomic rights
• Iran - Iran women activist gets suspended jail sentence
• Israel - Prodded by U.S., Olmert and Abbas meet privately