be just

The Daily Star - Lebanon News - Ethiopia bans citizens from seeking work in Lebanon : "ADDIS ABABA: On the occasion of Labor Day, Ethiopia has officially banned its citizens from traveling to Beirut in search of jobs, the African country's Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs has disclosed. Ethiopia passed the bill after it probed the human right violations and domestic violence Ethiopian migrants face behind closed doors in Beirut while employed as maids. 'Suspending work travel to Beirut was the only solution to minimizing the human rights abuses and dangers facing our citizens,' said Zenebu Tadesse, deputy minister of state for labor and social affairs. During the past few years, a number of Ethiopians have died in Lebanon in questionable circumstances. According to a report published by Ethiopia's official news agency, past human right records show that 67 Ethiopian women have died between 1997 and 1999 alone while working in Beirut."

Asia Times Online :: Middle East News, Iraq, Iran current affairs : "Straddled between the two energy hubs of the Persian Gulf and Caspian Sea, Iran is a suitable conduit for trade, energy and non-energy, between the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, which are members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and the landlocked Central Asian states. The GCC comprises Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates."

Shadowing slaughter in Sadr City : Information Clearing House - ICH : "On a bare patch of ground outside the entrance to Sadr general hospital, 15 women clad from head to foot in black squatted in a sandstorm, wailing and waiting for their dead. Lightning flashed, thunder rolled and the women’s robes were spattered with mud falling from a sky filled with rain and sand, but they did not notice. “Ya’mma, Ya’ba” (“Oh mother, oh father”), cried Amira Zaydan, a 45-year-old spinster, slapping her face and chest as she grieved for her parents Jaleel, 65, and Hanounah, 60, whose house had exploded after apparently being hit by an American rocket. “Where are you, my brothers?” she sobbed, lamenting Samir, 32, and Amir, 29, who had also perished along with their wives, one of whom was nine months pregnant. “What wrong have you done, my children?” she howled to the spirits of four nephews and nieces who completed a toll of 10 family members in the disaster that struck last Tuesday. “Mother

Press TV - Somali bomb blast kills 5 Ethiopians : "At least five Ethiopian soldiers have been killed in a military vehicle explosion near their base in Mogadishu's Tawfiq district. Ethiopian soldiers were patrolling near a water tanker in Mogadishu's Tawfiq district, when their military vehicle was hit by a road-side bomb killing at least five and wounding dozen others, Press TV correspondent reported. The tanker was also heavily damaged by insurgents' heavy gunfire. Meanwhile, several members of Somali Parliament have stepped down from office in protest against Mogadishu's full support for Ethiopian soldiers in the country."

Rebels, troops clash in Chechnya; 2 government forces killed : "Suspected Islamic militants clashed with police in Chechnya, killing two law enforcement officers, a regional official said Saturday. A group of about 25 suspected militants fought with government forces late Friday in Chechnya's southern district of Urus-Martan, a regional Interior Ministry official said. One police officer and a soldier were killed, and one officer was wounded, the official said. At least four militants were wounded, he said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. However, the rebel-linked Web site Kavkaz Center claimed that at least nine law enforcement officers were killed in a gunfight that lasted for four hours."

U.S. has Mandela on terrorist list - USATODAY.com : "WASHINGTON — Nobel Peace Prize winner and international symbol of freedom Nelson Mandela is flagged on U.S. terrorist watch lists and needs special permission to visit the USA. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice calls the situation 'embarrassing,' and some members of Congress vow to fix it. The requirement applies to former South African leader Mandela and other members of South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC), the once-banned anti-Apartheid organization. In the 1970s and '80s, the ANC was officially designated a terrorist group by the country's ruling white minority. Other countries, including the United States, followed suit."

Aswat Aliraq : "Diala, May3, (VOI) - Clad in black, brandishing weapons and raising anti-government slogans, 300 al-Qaeda network operatives on Saturday held a parade in Diala, a security source said. “Al-Qaeda network held a military parade inside al-Asiwa village of al-Saadiya district, 155 km north-east of Baaquba,” a security source from Diala province, who requested anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI). The source pointed out “300 al-Qaeda fighters bearing light and medium weapons drove with 50 pick-up vehicles in the village street.” He added “the fighters were clad in black and raised billbords calling to punish policemen, army servicemen, and government public servicemen.” Earlier, the volatile province of Diala saw similiar parades in al-Gatoon neighbourhood in Baaquba and al-Asri neighbourhood in al-Muqdadia town over the past 4 years, but the militants’ sway was diminshing after U.S.-backed Iraqi troops launched attacks to clamp down on the violence pe

For Israel’s Sake, Moderate American Jews Must Find Their Voice - Forward.com" In just a few short years, the “two-state solution” has gone from presumed conclusion to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to an increasingly distant hope. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has himself said that without such a deal, “the State of Israel is finished.” By the dozens, Israeli dignitaries solemnly warn: The window is closing on a two-state solution, and Israel’s prospects for a second, safer 60 years grow are growing ever dimmer.