Is $4.5 billion a lot of money? Of course it is. Yesterday, BP agreed to pay that sum to the U.S. government as part of its record-setting settlement after the Deepwater Horizon disaster that blanketed the American gulf coast with oil. Two BP employees were charged with manslaughter, to boot. This morning, only the Toronto Star gives that news any major treatment in its front section. Granted, hostilities between Israelis and Palestinians will almost always jump to the front of the line, and this morning’s no exception. But it’s remarkable that BP got off so easy—in terms of media coverage, that is—after agreeing to such an astronomical settlement. In fairness, the $4.5 billion price tag is barely 10 percent of the tens of billions of dollars that BP has spent to clean up the mess it made. Still, it’s stunning that BP, so reviled after that drilling rig exploded on April 20, 2010, isn’t being tarred and feathered on today’s opinion pages. The world moves on, it seems, even when it comes to arguably the worst environmental disaster of our time.

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What’s above the fold this morning?

The Globe and Mail leads with Tel Aviv’s reaction to the first missile strikes its people have seen in 20 years. The National Post fronts Israeli preparations to escalate a military response to those rocket attacks from Gaza. The Toronto Star goes above the fold with the Crown reporting inaccurate testimony provided by a police officer. The Ottawa Citizen leads with the delayed release of report cards to local high school students. iPolitics fronts a story about why the recent Chinese Congress was bad for Canada. National Newswatch showcases a Postmedia story that suggests the federal NDP is quickly losing ground to the Liberals.

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Stories that will be (mostly) missed

1. Gun registry. The government’s final report on the long-gun registry, tabled quietly in Parliament last week, says police usage of the registry almost tripled since 2007.	2. Firm sues Ottawa. An American energy company will sue the feds over Quebec’s ongoing moratorium on the use of fracking, a drilling technique, which will last until 2014.
3. Missing bills. Just under one million $1,000 bills—retired over 10 years ago—are still floating around, mostly among criminal organizations that use them to settle large debts.	4. XL Foods. The processing plant at the centre of the largest meat recall in Canadian history is once again selling its meat to retailers, says a union rep, who added that the beef is safer than ever.

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