Israeli forces raided the neighborhood of Qaffin in northern Tulkarem at dawn on Thursday, according to witnesses. Local sources reported that 15 military vehicles stormed the northern West Bank village, an operation conducted under "intensive shooting of bullets and sound bombs."
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Israeli forces seize two Tamoun residents
Israeli military forces detained two residents of the West Bank town of Tamoun early on Thursday morning, according to witnesses.
Local Palestinian sources told Ma'an that "Israeli troops invaded the town at dawn, broke into several homes and arrested Akram Bani A'udah and Ahmad Bsharat."
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Palestinian forces arrest 12 Hamas members in West Bank
Security forces loyalty to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrested 12 Hamas members in West Bank during a crackdown against the Islamic movement, Hamas said Thursday.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/
Israeli army detains several Palestinians in the West Bank
Israeli military detained late on Wednesday night more than 20 Palestinian residents in the occupied West Bank, as it dismantled a sit-in tent in the occupied east Jerusalem.
http://www.imemc.org/article/
Israeli prosecutors charge Islamic leader over Syrian flag
Israeli prosecutors charged the head of an Islamic organization in Israel over his waving of a Syrian flag at a demonstration in Jerusalem on Thursday, according to a news release from the Islamic Movement. Israeli prosecutors charged Sheikh Raed Salah, who is the head of the Islamic Movement in Israel, with "lifting the Syrian flag" at a Jerusalem march, the organization said. The Israeli prosecution reportedly upheld the charge on Thursday.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Evicted settlers vandalise West Bank mosque
A group of Jewish settlers have graffitied messages insulting the prophet Mohammed on a mosque in the West Bank. Recently around 150 settlers were ordered to leave a fortified building in Hebron where they had been living since last year.
http://www.euronews.net/en/
Dichter: Disputed Hebron house will be evacuated
In meeting with senior police, Shin Bet and IDF officials, internal security minister says High Court's decision to evacuate disputed Hebron House will be carried out in full. IDF soldiers spent morning painting over anti-Muslim graffiti sprayed by settlers on Hebron mosque.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Settlers spray inflammatory graffiti on mosque
AP-Jewish settlers on Thursday spray-painted graffiti on a mosque slurring the Prophet Muhammad and defaced a Muslim cemetery, Israeli military officials said, threatening to worsen tensions in this volatile West Bank city.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/
Hebron: Rightists injure soldier, desecrate graves
Tensions surrounding disputed Hebron house continue to run high as settlers clash with local Palestinians, pour turpentine on soldier, spray 'Muhammad the pig' graffiti on mosque.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Report on Israeli settlement in the occupied territories Nov-Dec 2008
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/
Another Palestinian family expelled from their home in East Jerusalem and hundreds of houses demolished. Israel's colonial policies kill any chance for a peace process!
Israeli police recently expelled the Al–Kurd family from its house, in the dark of night, in the Sheikh Jarrah area in East Jerusalem. The family includes Umm Kamal, the mother, her husband – who is partially paralysed and suffering from chronic heart disease – and their 5 children. Already refugees in 1948, when they were displaced from West Jerusalem, the family has once again been dispossessed of its home, where it has been living since 1956.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/
jerusalem-and-hundreds-of-
IOA demolishes sit-in tent pitched by owners of usurped home
Large numbers of Israeli occupation policemen on Wednesday tore down the tent pitched by an old Palestinian couple who were evicted from their home by force in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Insult added to injury as Israelis tear down tent of family evicted from Jerusalem home
Israeli security forces on Wednesday tore down a tent in which an Occupied Jerusalem Palestinian family had been living since being evicted from their nearby house earlier this month. The tent housed Fawzia al-Kurd and her ailing husband since their November 9 expulsion from their home of 52 years.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
'Gaza closure has no effect on Hamas'
Israel's decision to keep the crossings into Gaza closed will remain in effect until the end of the week, defense officials said Wednesday, despite an official IDF assessment submitted to Defense Minister Ehud Barak that the restriction is not having an effect on Hamas.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/
Essential health facilities at the Al Shifa medical center stopped functioning
Dr. Hussein Ashour, head of the Al Shifa medical center in Gaza, one of the biggest medical centers in the Gaza Strip, stated that main facilities at the center stopped functioning due to the lack of fundamental equipment and tools.
http://www.imemc.org/article/
Gaza: Responding to urgent medical needs of choked-off Strip
As a result of the closure imposed on the Gaza Strip since 5 November, medical facilities are once more running out of essential supplies. This has dire consequences for the health of the Palestinian population. Katharina Ritz, the ICRC's head of mission for the occupied Palestinian territories, talks about the humanitarian situation and the organization's efforts to respond to the most urgent needs.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/
Health ministry: Dozens of patients may die in case of a power outage
The health ministry warned that dozens of Palestinian patients might die within half an hour if there was any power outage in the units of intensive care, heart and preterm infants in Gaza hospitals.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
UNRWA suspends financial assistance to refugees in Gaza
UNRWA has announced that it would be forced to suspend its financial assistance to refugees in the Gaza Strip due to the lack of Israeli currency in Gaza banks.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Holmes: Gaza situation desperate, unacceptable, presents collective punishment
UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes said Wednesday that the situation in Gaza is desperate, unacceptable and the Israeli blockade is continuing, a scene which was described before as a collective punishment.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/
Hamas's agriculture ministry warns of a nutrition crisis due to the Israeli blockade
The Hamas-run agriculture ministry warned today of a nutrition setback in the coastal Strip, unless the commercial crossings are reopened.
http://www.imemc.org/article/
Gazans cook on wood fires because of power cuts
AP-While an Israeli cutoff in fuel shipments has closed down a dozen of his competitors, baker Khalil Awad stays in business thanks to a little creativity and dirty black oil drained from car engines. The cutoff in fuel shipments to the Gaza Strip's sole power plant started a week ago in response to rocket attacks by Palestinian militants.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/
European campaign warns of Israeli attempts to dupe the world on Gaza
The European campaign to lift the siege on Gaza has warned of an Israeli attempt to draw the world's attention away from the oppressive siege imposed on the Strip.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Palestinian rights group warns of humanitarian disaster in Gaza
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) warned in a report on Thursday that the Gaza Strip is facing "disaster" as a result of the "endless siege." PCHR also blamed Israel for the ongoing clashes in Gaza. According to the center's weekly report, Israeli troops made 30 incursions into the West Bank and Gaza, where 44 Palestinians were seized. Among them were two children from the West Bank, 15 fisherman off the coast of Gaza and three solidarity activists onboard a ship, the center claimed.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Gaza voices
Palestinians describe life under the Israeli blockade.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-
Barghouthi: IOA measures against Gaza war crime
MP Dr. Mustafa Al-Barghouthi has charged that IOA measures against Gaza constituted a war crime and a blatant violation of the international laws and the Geneva Convention.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Free Gaza Organisation meets Dr Mustapha Bargouti
So is Abbass just a tool of the Israelis? The Free Gaza Organisation meets Dr Mustapha Bargouti.
http://www.freegaza.org/index.
Al Hindy: Hamas will declare a new president after January 9
Senior Islamic Jihad leader, Mohammad Al Hindy stated in an interview with the Maan News Agency that the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, will most likely declare a new Palestinian president replacing Mahmoud Abbas after January 9 of 2009 which marks the end of Abbas' term in office.
http://www.imemc.org/article/
Hamas slams PA marketing of the "Arab initiative" minus "the right of return"
Hamas strongly denounced the PA in Ramallah for intending to publish advertisements in Israeli newspapers in order to market the Arab peace initiative without mentioning the right of return.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Abbas mad at head of Arab League, decides to boycott foreign ministers' meeting
Official Fatah sources revealed that PA chief Mahmoud Abbas was indignant at the Arab League secretary-general because of his refrainment from holding Hamas responsible for thwarting the dialog.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Iner-Palestinian dialogue to resume next month
Well-informed Palestinian sources revealed on Wednesday that Egypt would invite the Palestinian factions, including rival Fatah and Hamas, to Cairo on early December to resume the national dialogue.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/
Prospects of Palestinian reconciliation 'darker than ever'
Palestinian resistance factions were roundly blamed in the mainstream media for their last-minute decision to boycott last week's Egypt-sponsored "comprehensive dialogue" summit, ostensibly aimed at Palestinian national reconciliation. But some independent commentators say the move, led by Gaza-based resistance faction Hamas, was justified.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
Sources: Arabs tending to find a mediator other than Egypt
Palestinian political sources revealed a tendency among Arab political leaders active in the Palestinian issue to find an alternative mediator in the inter-Palestinian dialog instead of Egypt.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
ANALYSIS /Which peace initiative will Obama back?
So who's right, Netanyahu or Peres?Apparently neither. Obama was here in July, when winning the election seemed very far away and his main goal was not to screw up or ire anyone. Presumably he was polite, and told his hosts their proposals were "very interesting"-they leave satisfied and he hasn't promised a thing.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Obama Tells Abbas He'll Work for Peace
JERUSALEM — The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, has received a courtesy phone call from President-elect Barack Obama, who confirmed that he would work for peace, a Palestinian official said Wednesday. The conversation took place Tuesday. The official, Saeb Erekat, a senior Abbas aide, said Mr. Obama had thanked Mr. Abbas for the congratulations he had extended after the Nov. 4 election. Mr. Erekat added that the two men had "reiterated their commitment to continue to work" for an Israeli-Palestinian peace based on a two-state solution.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/
Abdullah holds secret summit with Olmert, Barak
King Abdullah summons Israeli PM, defense minister to his palace in Amman, implores them not to launch operation in Gaza, stresses peace between Israel, Palestinians also a strategic interest of Jordan.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Israeli leaders make secret journey to Jordan
AP-Israeli leaders made a secret journey to neighboring Jordan earlier this week, listening to pleas from King Abdullah II to avert a large-scale military operation in the Gaza Strip, Israeli and Jordan officials confirmed Thursday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/
Poll indicates Likud Party preference among Israeli voters
If general elections were held today, the Israeli Likud Party would win 32 Knesset seats, while Kadima would gain just 26, according to a survey published in the Hebrew-language newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth on Thursday.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Israel calls UK stance on settlements "painful"
Israel accused Britain of a "painful attitude" on Wednesday for urging the European Union to make sure that goods made in Jewish settlements are not allowed into the bloc on preferential terms.
http://africa.reuters.com/
Hamas' armed wing will 'blow up the truce' if Israel kills leaders
The armed wing of Hamas threatened on Wednesday to "blow up" the truce agreement with Israel if it kills Hamas leaders has threatened by certain Israeli leaders. Abu Ubaidah the spokesperson of Al-Qassam Brigades said: "Israeli threats and calls to carry out wide-scale aggressive operations in Gaza Strip are nothing but an attempt to console themselves after the projectile attacks they received from resistance factions especially Al-Qassam."
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Gazans say denied right to make pilgrimage
RAFAH, Gaza Strip: Hundreds of Palestinians protested at the Gaza-Egypt border Wednesday, saying they've been denied the right to go to Mecca for the upcoming Muslim pilgrimage. Led by seven men in the white robes worn by Muslim pilgrims, they waved Palestinian flags and carried banners reading in Arabic, "We want to perform our religious duty away from politics. The pilgrimage must not be the subject of conflict."
http://www.iht.com/articles/
Gaza pilgrims rally at Rafah crossing, call for allowing them to travel to Makka
Hundreds of Gaza pilgrims marched to the Rafah crossing to demand the Arab countries to expedite the opening of the crossing and facilitate the procedures necessary to perform the pilgrimage rituals.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Waqf minister calls on Hamas to respect Hajj pilgrimage
Sheikh Jamal Bawatneh, the Minister of Waqf and Religious Affairs within the Palestinian Authority (PA), said on Thursday that the ministry hopes to overcome obstacles related to the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. The minister called for Hamas to "return under the umbrella of Palestinian legitimacy," adding that the pilgrimage "should be respected."
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Peres: Settlement evacuation may lead to civil war
LONDON-President Shimon Peres told members of the British Parliament Wednesday that Israel would have difficulty dismantling West Bank settlements without causing a civil war in Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Global media executives protest Gaza press ban
Leaders of the world's biggest media organizations filed a protest with Israel's prime minister Wednesday criticizing the government's decision to ban journalists from entering the Gaza Strip for the last two weeks. The protest was the latest in a chorus of international criticism of Israel's Gaza closure, tightened after a five-month truce began unraveling about two weeks ago in a flurry of Israeli airstrikes against militants and Palestinian rocket barrages targeting Israeli towns.
http://www.google.com/
Jordanian protesters urge Israel to end blockade against Gaza
Hundreds of Jordanians have held a demonstration in the capital Amman in protest against Israel's blockade of Gaza, urging for an end to the worsening humanitarian conditions in the coastal enclave, daily The Jordan Times reported on Thursday.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/
The price of resisting the occupation in Israel: "leftists aren't allowed..."
The level of repression against activists in Israel is multi-faceted, violent, and effective. There are so many examples that it is hard to choose only a few, but consider just a handful of examples from recent months.
http://www.
Activist opposes Gaza deportation
A human rights activist who was arrested while accompanying Palestinian fishermen on a trip is appealing against his deportation from Israel.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_ news/scotland/highlands_and_ islands/7738179.stm
Free Gaza Movement call for aiding Gaza through the sea
The Free Gaza Movement issued on Wednesday this open letter to all organizations delivering humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
http://www.imemc.org/article/
Albawaba: Despite Ban, Leviev to Sell Jewelry at Grand Opening of Atlantis Hotel in Duba
Adalah NY has learned that the jewelry of Israeli billionaire and settlement-builder Lev Leviev will be on sale at this week's gala opening of the luxury hotel Atlantis, The Palm in Dubai. Despite Leviev's on-going construction of Israeli settlements and claims by United Arab Emirates officials that Leviev would receive no license to sell his jewelry there, the New York-based human rights coalition Adalah-NY has confirmed that Leviev's jewelry will be on sale at the Atlantis branch of the Levant Jewelry chain on the fabled Palm Jumeirah island.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/
-of-atlantis-hotel-in-dubai/
Second Saudi food aid shipment arrives in Gaza Strip
A convoy of food aid donated by the Saudi Arabian monarchy arrived in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, loaded with hundreds of tons of rice. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) received a previous convoy of flour last week, also from the Saudis.
UNRWA's director of aid programs, Kathy Heward, praised Saudi Arabia's role in delivering aid, particularly "its continued efforts to alleviate poverty among the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip."
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Who Will Stop the Settlers?
The middle-of-the-night eviction last week of an elderly Palestinian couple from their home in East Jerusalem to make way for Jewish settlers is a demonstration of Israeli intent towards a future peace deal with the Palestinians. Mohammed and Fawziya Khurd are now on the street, living in a tent, after Israeli police enforced a court order issued in July to expel them.
http://www.counterpunch.org/
Peres at Oxford
http://www.thejc.com/node/8345
Gaza: a Dire Life Zone Still Clings to Hope
Gaza Strip, 20, Nov, 2008-Following Israeli raids that killed around 15 Palestinians within one week, many rockets were fired into Israel in a reprisal of Israeli's provocation. As usual Israel started to blame Palestinians despite it was the one who initiated with violence again. The Israeli assault was an obvious breach of an agreed calm held with Palestinian fighting groups 5 months ago. It has provoked some Palestinians to fire some light rockets into Israel. Afterwards, Israel started a new phase of collective punishment and began more violent prevocational measures against 1.5 million people.
http://palestinethinktank.com/
Israel launches Arabic YouTube channel to bypass Arab media
The Foreign Ministry has launched a YouTube channel in Arabic which is meant to bypass Arab media and give Israel's version of current events directly to Arab viewers, Haaretz has learned.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
PA to publish first-ever ads in Hebrew explaining Arab peace plan
The Palestinian Authority is publishing for the first time on Thursday advertisements in the Hebrew-language Israeli press that present the details of the Arab peace plan.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Another Showdown in Gaza?
Gaza is bracing itself for a harsh winter. Less than a week has passed since Israel slammed shut doors to all land crossings, leaving a million-and-half hapless Palestinians to a miserable fate. We have seen the images before; long queues at petrol stations, Gaza city engulfed in an eerie darkness, children huddled together around a kitchen table doing their homework and trying to make use of little light from a burning candle.
http://palestinechronicle.com/
Issuance of building licenses down 0.2% in West Bank
The total number of building licenses issued in the West Bank decreased by 0.2 percent in the third quarter 2008 compared to the second quarter, according to a report released Thursday by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS). But the total number of licensed dwellings increased 3.8 percent, compared with the second quarter 2008, when total licensed areas decreased by 14.9 percent, again compared to the second quarter, PCBS reported.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Ben White: Economy first in Palestine?
Ben White: For some, reviving the Palestinian economiy is the route to peace. For others, it's the route to fragmentation.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
The Shooting of Brian Avery, and the Israeli Cover Up
While the Israeli military's investigation into the 2003 shooting of the American human rights worker Brian Avery did little to nothing in actually investigating the near-fatal injury, it was highly effective in covering up Israeli soldiers' involvement, thereby sheltering them from criminal charges. That became clear some time ago when, in a Jerusalem court, none other than the soldier who pulled the trigger and his commander severely incriminated the official account of the shooting on critical points.
http://palestinechronicle.com/
The Israeli Left: Yesterday's Traitors
In the crucial battle over the national consciousness, we are experiencing great success. Let us pause to recall: In the aftermath of the 1948 war, when we said there is a Palestinian people and that peace should be made with it, there were not 100 people in Israel and the entire world who agreed. When we said a Palestinian state should be established alongside Israel, we were deemed national enemies.
http://palestinechronicle.com/
Palestinians to hand over wanted militant to LAF
Palestinian officials and Islamist figures in the southern city of Sidon reportedly started efforts on Wednesday aimed at handing over six wanted militants to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF). Among the wanted is Abdel al-Rahman Awad, who is believed the successor of the militant group Fatah al-Islam's leader Shaker al-Abssi.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
Interview: Palestinians in Europe
On November 16, delegations representing Palestinian communities in EU countries gathered in Stockholm, Sweden to pave the way for a conference to be held in a European capital in May 2009. Zaid Tayem, the head of the cultural division of the Union of Palestinian Minorities in Europe and a member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), says the May meeting will solidify Palestinian ranks and push for political representation in European parliaments.
http://english.aljazeera.net/
Palestinian Oscar hope
Take the sexiest man of the year, team him up with a statuesque Palestinian-American spoken word muse, add a fiery filmmaker who sets out to make her first feature movie and you end up with "Salt of This Sea," this year's official Palestinian Academy Award entry.
http://www.kansascity.com/451/
In Gaza coffee shops, men and women break strict taboos
GAZA CITY-A womens association celebrating the end of a management course, combined with a party for the 20th anniversary of the Palestinian declaration of independence is no big deal in itself.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
US to lower Israeli airport's safety ranking
FAA issues report listing various security defects in Ben Gurion International Airport, Transportation Ministry says Mofaz has been attempting to repair dangerous situation for a year.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Israel to hold talks with UN over IDF pullout from northern border town
Israel will commence negotiations with the United Nations over a withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces from the northern section of the village of Ghajar, which sits along the border with Lebanon, the government decided on Wednesday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Ghajar residents irate over possible IDF pullout
Residents of divided village outraged over Jerusalem's decision to launch talks on ceding control of its northern section to UNIFIL. 'We will not accept any decision that will separate families and violate our rights,' council secretary says.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Wednesday: 9 Iraqis Killed, 17 Wounded
Excerpt: At least nine Iraqis were killed and another 17 were wounded in today's attacks. Also, the Iraqi governent reported that they had discovered a mass grave three months ago near Najaf. The grave contained 150 bodies killed during the Saddam era. Meanwhile, debate in parliament over a U.S.-Iraqi security agreement turned hostile and was postponed until tomorrow. Elsewhere in Baghdad, U.S. and Turkish officials joined the Iraqis for talks on the situation with Kurdistan Workers Party rebels.
http://www.antiwar.com/
U.S. military: 8 bodies found in Baghdad
The U.S. military says the remains of at least eight people have been unearthed in a mass grave in a mainly Shiite area in Baghdad.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/
US will withdraw troops if Iraq does not sign security deal
The US will withdraw its troops from Iraq if the security pact between the two governments is not signed, Iraqi media quoted a senior United States official as saying Wednesday.
http://www.monstersandcritics.
Iraqi parliament's debate on US pact disrupted
Lawmakers loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Wednesday disrupted a parliamentary debate ahead of a Nov. 24 vote on a U.S.-Iraqi security agreement that would keep American troops in Iraq for three more years. Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani adjourned the session until Thursday after Sadrist lawmaker Ahmed al-Massoudi aggressively approached a lawmaker from the ruling coalition who was reading aloud the text of the agreement. Al-Massoudi appeared to be on the verge of grabbing the document as lawmaker Hassan al-Sineid read it. Personal guards of Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, seated next to al-Sineid, stopped al-Massoudi from reaching the bench.
http://www.topix.net/content/
Hardline Iraqi MPs shout down US pact in parliament
BAGHDAD (AFP) – Lawmakers loyal to firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr shouted down the Iraqi parliament's second reading on Wednesday of a military pact allowing US troops to remain in Iraq until the end of 2011. The agreement, approved by the cabinet on Sunday, has been fiercely criticised by the Sadrists, who oppose any deal with the US "occupier" and have vowed to derail it with legislative manoeuvres and mass demonstrations.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/
Iraqi Lawmakers Brawl Over Security Pact
A session of Iraq's Parliament collapsed in chaos on Wednesday, as a discussion among lawmakers about a three-year security agreement with the Americans boiled over into shouting and physical confrontation.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/
Defense officials highly critical of U.S.-Iraq troop accord
McClatchy Newspapers-WASHINGTON — Although the Pentagon officially has welcomed the new accord on a U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq, senior military officials are privately criticizing President Bush for giving Iraq more control over U.S. military operations for the next three years than the U.S. had ever contemplated.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/
Mosul Christians Reluctant to Return
Christians from Mosul are hesitant about returning home despite cash offerings and pledges of stronger security in and around the volatile northern city. The Iraqi government has boosted the number of security forces and troops in Mosul to 35,000 and is offering displaced Christian families up to 1.5 million Iraqi dinars (1,300 US dollars) to return to their homes. Iraqi president Jalal Talabani also earlier this month pledged 900,000 dollars to support and protect the community. An estimated 2,000 families – approximately half of Mosul's Christian population – fled Mosul and its surrounding areas following the killings of Christians there last month.
http://www.iwpr.net/index.php?
Iraq world's third most corrupt country
Iraq is perceived as being the world's third most corrupt country, with only failed state Somalia and Myanmar's military junta below it, according to the Transparency International index measuring perceptions of graft in 180 nations.
http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/
Iraq's 'Mulla Omars'
President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan wants to bring peace to his war-torn country. For the peace to become a reality he will need to come to terms with the fugitive Talaban leader Mulla Omar. Karzai is reported to be holding serious negotiation with Mulla Omar to persuade him to lay down arms in return for safety and other so far undeclared privileges.
http://www.azzaman.com/
Iranians urged to increase investments in Iraq
Iran is holding a trade fair in Baghdad, exhibiting its latest industries in a bid to increase volume of its exports to the country. It is the second running exhibition in the country. The Iranians are holding another fair in the northern Kurdish Province of Dahouk, which has traditionally relied on Turkish imports.
http://www.azzaman.com/
Jennifer Utz: From Baghdad to Brooklyn: My Journey with an Iraqi Refugee
"That one sounds like mortar fire," Mohamed said to me. "And that was definitely a sniper." My Iraqi friend and I were in Coney Island for the Friday night summer fireworks. Listening to the thunderous explosions over the water as we rode the Wonder Wheel, memories of life in war-torn Iraq inevitably came to mind. I wondered what else must be going through his head. Just two weeks ago, he had been a refugee living in the slums of Damascus, Syria.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
Lawmaker accuses Bush of secrecy over Iraq deal
The U.S. government is refusing to make public the security pact it has signed with Iraq, even though it has already been published in full in an Iraqi newspaper, a congressional hearing was told on Wednesday. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice were holding a closed briefing for U.S. House of Representatives members on the pact signed on Monday that sets a 2011 deadline for U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq.
http://www.reuters.com/
Docs: US relied on faulty assurance before shipping prisoners to countries with history of torture
Hundreds of pages of documents released this week show the US government relied on dubious assurances before shipping detainees to countries with a history of torture. The documents reveal for the first time the contents of a "diplomatic assurance" exchanged between the US and a foreign government. Such assurances are issued when the US is asked to extradite an individual charged with a crime to a country that has a history of torturing prisoners. The requesting country essentially promises that it will not torture the extradited individual.
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/
Why Would Obama Proffer State Gig to Clinton?
"Her top, top, top advisers told me, 'Steve, she will animate things in the Middle East—she will deliver a Palestinian state. Gold-plated,'" said Steven Clemons, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation in Washington. Mr. Clemons also noted the irony that Mrs. Clinton potentially would be tasked with preparing the road for the direct negotiations with antagonistic foreign leaders that she excoriated Mr. Obama over during the primary. "She criticized him so much for going to meet foreign leaders without preconditions; now she is the one who is going to have to go and get all the preconditions sorted out."
http://www.observer.com/2008/
The limits of American racism, and the Arab exception
The electoral silly season is over and it is time for a serious discussion removed from partisan passions and manipulation. Racism, the 800-pound gorilla in the American living room, has shrunk and is now no bigger than a jackass. In his eloquent endorsement of Barack Obama, another African-American statesman, Colin Powell, took direct aim at racism and pulled the trigger: "It is permitted to be said such things as, 'Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim.' Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he's a Christian. He's always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is?" He went on to describe a photo of a Muslim American mother grieving at the tomb of her soldier son at Arlington Cemetery.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
Dick Cheney and Alberto Gonzales Indicted in Private Prison Case in Texas
A Texas judge has set an arraignment date for Friday for Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. They were indicted this week by a Texas grand jury on state charges accusing them of responsibility for prisoner abuse in a privately-run federal jail. We speak with Willacy County district attorney Juan Angel Guerra.
http://www.democracynow.org/
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