Morning News Roundup (05 May)

• The largest rebel group in Sudan's Darfur region has agreed to sign a peace deal with the government. However, two smaller groups say they are not happy with the terms of the deal on offer. The government has also agreed to sign. The three-year-old Darfur conflict has claimed some 200,000 lives and displaced more than two million people. [BBC]
  
  
• A roadside bomb killed three U.S. soldiers south of Baghdad on Friday morning, and two other U.S. soldiers died Thursday when their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb in Baghdad. In other violence in Iraq on Friday, gunmen killed a local community leader in Baqubah about 30 miles northeast of Baghdad and police in the town of Khalis, about 10 miles northeast of Baqubah, found three bodies of men who had been handcuffed and shot to death. [WaPo]
  
  
• Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of detainees by U.S. forces is widespread and, in many cases, sanctioned by top government officials, Amnesty International charged Wednesday. The allegations are likely to influence a U.N. hearing on U.S. compliance with international torture agreements that begins Friday in Geneva. [Knight Ridder]
  
  
• The United States launched an emphatic defence of its record on preventing torture and abuse, as the UN's top anti-torture body opened its first public examination of that record since President George W. Bush unleashed a "war on terror". However, US officials also highlighted their legal reservations about the reach of the International Convention Against Torture overseen by the UN Committee. The United States insisted when it signed the treaty that it did not apply to armed conflicts, effectively excluding its activities in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the "war on terror", from the Convention's scope in US eyes. [Agence France Presse]
  
  
• The House yesterday overwhelmingly approved a $7.4 billion port security bill, though conservatives bowed to industry and “blocked consideration of a Democratic amendment that would have required that all cargo be screened before it leaves foreign ports for the United States.” [ThinkProgress' ThinkFast]
  
  
• What's left of unity in the Episcopal Church is at stake heading into a weekend election for bishop of California that sets up a major clash over gays' role in the church. Three of the seven candidates are openly gay, and choosing one of them to head the Diocese of California would further alienate Episcopal conservatives already feeling betrayed that the church approved a gay bishop three years ago. It could also fracture the strained relationship between America's 2.3 million Episcopalians and their parent body, the worldwide Anglican Communion. A vote against a gay bishop would likely preserve the fragile truce. [AP via Yahoo!]
  
  
• Contraception use has declined strikingly over the last decade, particularly among poor women, making them more likely to get pregnant unintentionally and to have abortions. The decline appears to have slowed the reduction in the national abortion rate that began in the mid-1980's.
  
  The researchers blamed reductions in federally and state-financed family planning programs for declining contraceptive use. They called for public and private insurance to cover contraceptives, and for over-the-counter access to the so-called morning-after pill, which can prevent pregnancy if taken within 72 hours after sex. [NYTimes]
  
  
• At least for now, environmentally friendly biodiesel is cheaper at the pump in South Sound than petroleum-based diesel. Acme Energy Services, which operates one of the few commercial biodiesel fueling stations in the Puget Sound area, was selling biodiesel for $2.99 a gallon this week, compared with $3.02 for regular diesel fuel (The Olympian). Hat tip to Sightline's Daily Score, which notes:
  

  Of couse, biodiesel still gets a $1 per gallon federal tax credit. Without that credit, biodiesel would be no bargain, even with petroleum-based diesel topping $3 per gallon.
  
  But as biodiesel proponents point out, the subsidy may be just a way of levelling the playing field. Petroleum benefits from hidden subsidies, ranging from favorable tax treatment for domestic production; environmental costs of pollution and that are borne by society at large rather than oil consumers; and military and security costs.

• Global warming -- with an accompanying rise in floods and droughts -- is fueling the spread of epidemics in areas unprepared for the diseases, say many health experts worldwide. Mosquitoes, ticks, mice and other carriers are surviving warmer winters and expanding their range, bringing health threats with them.
  
  Malaria is climbing the mountains to reach populations in higher elevations in Africa and Latin America. Cholera is growing in warmer seas. Dengue fever and Lyme disease are moving north. West Nile virus, never seen on this continent until seven years ago, has infected more than 21,000 people in the United States and Canada and killed more than 800. [WaPo]
  
  
• A sad commentary on the way Americans must carry themselves abroad: “The official team bus to be used by the United States during the World Cup will not bear a flag for security reasons. The 32 official buses were presented Thursday in Frankfurt and the other 31 buses have large national flags of the teams painted on rear sides.” [ThinkProgress' ThinkFast]