Morning News Roundup (06 June)

• While the Senate debates a gay marriage amendment and Paris Hilton Tax repeal, Congress has yet to approve funds for spending in Iraq and the Gulf Coast. “This supplemental [spending bill] went up in February,” said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman. “It’s now June.” Because of the delay, “the Army will impose a civilian hiring freeze Tuesday and has cut spending on spare parts, transportation and travel.” [ThinkProgress' ThinkFast]
  
  
• Salon's War Room points us to this Gallup poll, which asked 1,003 Americans to say -- without any prompting from the pollsters -- what should be the "top priority for the president and Congress to deal with." The post has the full results, with the Iraq war at the top of the charts with 42%, followed by energy prices/crisis at 29% and immigration at 23%. At the bottom of the list was abortion, lack of money, and gap between rich and poor, all at 0.5%.
  
  Gay marriage didn't make the list.
  
  
• Nearly 1,400 Iraqi civilians were killed across Baghdad in May, the largest number of deaths in one month since the U.S.-led invasion three years ago. [ThinkProgress' ThinkFast]
  
  
• Islamist militias control Mogadishu and the NYT reports that "it appeared that Washington had backed the losing side." But it's not just a story of US meddling; the Security Council recently received a report listing six other countries as violators of the arms embargo to the country.
  
  
• EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana went to Iran to deliver a package of incentives that represents a major initiative by world powers to persuade Iran to curb its nuclear program. Iran's initial reaction was relatively upbeat, with none of its usual insistence that it would never give up its right to enrichment. "The proposals contain positive steps and also some ambiguities," Ali Larijani said. He did not identify the "ambiguities," but he said he had discussed them with Solana and that more talks would be required. [WaPo]
  
  
• Global warming may mean cloudier, rainier springs and summers with more days in the 90-degree zone. But more precarious is the finding that catastrophic losses of winter snowpack will not be offset by more summer thunderstorms. [Seattle Times]
  
  
• President Bush might be wishing that the US had more of a soccer fever right about now. Foreign Policy's Passport blog muses on how UK Prime Minister Tony Blair must be hoping that England go far in the World Cup:
  

  With David Cameron's resurgent Conservatives ten points up in the polls and the press fixated on a "last days" narrative, Blair desperately needs something to change the public mood. And what could be better than England winning the World Cup on foreign soil for the first time?
  
  The good news for Blair is that for every day England are in the competition, there will be less space in the media for—and less interest in—news of the failure to deport foreign criminals, internal struggles, incompetence in the NHS, and the like. Equally the PM can expect to be the indirect beneficiary of any feel good factor and economic bounce created by a strong English performance.
  [...]
  Now, Blair will have to plan his tactics even more carefully than Sven. If Blair attempts to climb on the bandwagon too unsubtly and make himself the national cheerleader, the electorate won’t buy it. (Leaders who have a minus 41 approval rating can't get away with that.) But if Blair plays it safe and just offers the odd word of encouragement and doesn't appear too keen, he'll benefit. Why? Because a World Cup victory will make the English happier - and far harder to persuade that the country is going to hell in a handcart. On the other hand, if England gets knocked out early, the electorate will be in an even sourer mood. And that's not good for Blair’s chances of making it through to the fall of 2007.

  
  
  
• Speaking of which, England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson remains confident striker Wayne Rooney will be involved in the World Cup. The 20-year-old has stepped up his training after a broken foot but will discover the extent of his progress after Wednesday's scan in Manchester. [BBC]