SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 10:41 P.M. ET:

ANOTHER CLOSE CALL – The CIA has reportedly broken up a plot cooked up by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to place an "underwear" bomb on an a U.S.-bound airliner.  The plot was, according to reports, to be launched to coincide with the first anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden.  The device was said to be an improvement over a bomb that a suicide bomber tried to detonate over Detroit on Christmas day, 2009. 

ISRAELI POLITICAL DRAMA – Just as early elections were about to be scheduled in Israel, a deal between Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu and the opposition Kadima party appears to have averted them.  The early elections, which would have taken place about a year before Netanyahu's term expired, could have affected Israeli policy toward Iran, right in the middle of an American presidential campaign.  No word yet on whether the new coalition being formed will alter any policies.

EU TOUGH ON IRAN – The European Union told Iran on Monday that it must suspend all enrichment of uranium, just a few days after Iran announced it would do no such thing.  The next negotiating session between Western powers and Iran, on the Iranian nuclear program, takes place May 23rd in Baghdad.  Already expectations are being lowered, as neither side has made any significant concessions.  Time is passing, the Iranian program is continuing.  The new French socialist government, elected yesterday, does not appear to have objected to Europe's hard line.

KELLY OUT FRONT – Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, recently mentioned as a possibly vice-presidential choice for Mitt Romney, certainly doesn't seem to be shy about the prospect.  She was one of the first major Republican officeholders to endorse Romney, and now seems to be popping up almost everywhere.  She said on Meet the Press Sunday, "I'll tell you this, I have great experience as attorney general in the state. I'm very proud of that experience and I would say I have, some would say, better experience than Barack Obama had when he was a senator and ran, having been the chief law enforcement officer of my state."  Sounds like a campaign speech to me.

May 7, 2012