Middle East Today: Palestine --- Assassination of "Bomb-Maker", Killing of Jewish Settler

Iraqi troops inspect scene of car bomb in Baghdad (Ahemed al-Rubaye/AFP)

See also Syria Today: "US Moving Towards Supply of Weapons to Insurgents"

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Bahrain: MPs Denounce US

Denouncing a US State Department report on the Kingdom's human rights record, Bahraini MPS have accused Washington of trying to "destroy" and "colonise" country.

The legislators said the report is based on "lies" and "false" information.

The report, released two weeks ago, criticised "citizens' inability to change their government peacefully", the arrest and detention of protesters on "vague" charges, and the torture of prisoners.

Latifa Al Gaoud, the head of the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee, said, "Countries that produce evil reports have intentions to blackmail our leadership for their own interests, disregarding their bloody history that gave them the power they are using against us now.

Hassan Al Dossary, the chair of the Public Utilities and Environment Affairs Committee declared, "The US policy, represented by US Ambassador Thomas Krajeski, clearly shows what is in store for the future of this country and we are clearly saying he is unwelcome in Bahrain."

MP Sameer Kadhim made a racist slur against President Obama, accusing him of trying to colonise Bahrain through the enforcement of ideologies.

Kadhim's comments were taken off Parliament's record after several MPs protested the racism.

Turkey: Opposition MP Injured in Clashes During Protests

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy leader Gürsel Tekin, jnjured by police tear gas during May Day protests in Istanbul, said the ambulance carrying him to the hospital was targeted by security forces.

“Two days ago it was in the news that chemical weapons may have been used in Syria. What difference does it make? How is [Erdoğan] any different than Saddam or Assad?” Tekin told reporters after treatment in hospital.

Tekin continued, “They used tear gas on the ambulance. What kind of a cruelty is this?”

The MP blamed “those who ordered the police to use pepper gas".

Police battled with crowds starting from early in the morning with water and tear gas in a bid to keep groups, which included trade union members, members of political parties, and other groups, away from Taksim Square, which is off limits to May Day demonstrations.

Iraq: Death Toll Rises from Today's Bombings

At least 15 people have been killed throughout Iraq from multiple bombings.

In one of the attacks, six people were killed when a suicide bomber detonated himself amidst a group of Government-backed Sunni fighters who were picking up their paychecks in the eastern city of Fallujah, sources told the agency.

Four police officers were killed when an improvised explosive device (IED) hit a federal police convoy in the town of Baiji, located some 180 km north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. A separate car bomb north of Ramadi killed another two policemen and wounded 10 more.

In a largely Shiite neighbourhood in northeastern Baghdad, a car bomb targeted worshippers outside mosque, killing at least three and wounding dozens.

Turkey: Clashes at May Day Protest

Turkish riot police fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse crowds gathering in central Istanbul for today's May Day rally.

Thousands of police were stationed across the city cenre to block access to Taksim Square as crowds of protesters converged in different parts of the city attempting to storm police barricades.

Authorities denied large trade unions permission to march on Taksim, saying major construction work there would make it too dangerous.

Two officers were wounded by stones and metal objects thrown at police lines, State television said.

Iraq: 4 People Killed in Bombings

Authorities say a bomb has exploded near a Sunni mosque in southern Baghdad, killing four worshippers and wounding 20 others.

Police officials say the bomb went off after Tuesday night prayers as the worshippers were leaving al-Hasanien mosque in the primarily Sunni neighborhood of Dora.

Palestine: Tension Escalates with Assassination & Stabbing

Israeli forces killed a Gazan activist, whom it claimed was a bomb-maker, while a Jewish settler was stabbed to death in the West Bank on Tuesday.

The Israeli military described Hitham Masshal as a "global jihad-affiliated terrorist". He was slain by an airstrike in northern Gaza as he was riding a motorcycle.

The Israeli Defence Forces claimed Masshal had taken part in a recent rocket attack on the Israeli Red Sea resort of Eila and that he had "acted in different jihad Salafi terror organisations and over the past few years has been a key terror figure".

In the West Bank, clashes followed the stabbing of Eviatar Borovzky, as he waited for a bus. Large numbers of Israeli security forces were deployed.

Two Palestinian school buses were stoned by settlers, while other settlers set fire to tyres and olive groves, a Palestinian official said.

Borovsky was attacked early Tuesday morning at a bus stop at the Tapuach Junction, where settlers congregate to catch buses or hitch-hike.

Borovsky's assailant snatched the settler's gun and shot at nearby border police. They returned fire, wounding the Palestinian, who was detained and taken to hospital in Israel.

Borovsky is the first Israeli to be killed by Palestinians in the West Bank since September 2011.