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ei: Ungenerous occupier: Israel's Camp David exposed

2008: The year a new superpower is born - Independent Online Edition > Asia : "Here comes the world's newest superpower. The rest of the world is gloomily contemplating economic slowdown and even recession. Not in Beijing. China is set to make 2008 the year it asserts its status as a global colossus by flexing frightening economic muscle on international markets, enjoying unprecedented levels of domestic consumption and showcasing itself to a watching world with a glittering £20bn Olympic Games."

IRIN Middle East | Middle East | Iraq | IRAQ: Islamic extremists target women in Basra | Gender Issues Conflict | News Item : "BAGHDAD, 2 January 2008 (IRIN) - One hundred and thirty-three women were killed last year in Basra, Iraq’s second largest city, either by religious vigilantes or as a result of so-called “honour” killings, a report said on 31 December. The report, released by Basra Security Committee at a conference on women’s rights in the city, said 79 of the victims were deemed by extremists to be “violating Islamic teachings”, 47 others died in “honour” killings and the remaining seven were targeted for their political affiliations."

Ron Paul Is Right About Pakistan - by David T. Beito and Scott Horton The conventional wisdom among presidential candidates is that the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has proved the importance of continued American meddling in that land. Both Republicans and Democrats are rushing to mumble incoherent platitudes before the cameras, while several have even proclaimed their next big idea for how Pakistan ought to be run. Democratic candidate Bill Richardson made his first headline in months by proclaiming that President Bush ought to give former general – now just "president" – Pervez Musharraf his pink slip. Most of the rest simply say we should "support democracy" there. This "wisdom" of interference is so conventional that CNN's Wolf Blitzer expressed shock when Republican candidate Rep. Ron Paul of Texas said that the tragedy proved his case for nonintervention in the affairs of other nations. We should not, Paul said,...

How Bhutto Won Washington - New York Times : "BENAZIR BHUTTO always understood Washington more than Washington understood her. Ms. Bhutto, the Pakistani opposition leader and two-time prime minister, who was assassinated in Rawalpindi on Thursday as she campaigned for the office a third time, had a more extensive network of powerful friends in the capital’s political and media elite than almost any other foreign leader. Over the years, she scrupulously cultivated those friends, many from her days at Harvard and Oxford. She was rewarded when her connections — at the White House, in Congress and within the foreign policy establishment — helped propel her into power in Pakistan."

Al Jazeera English - News - Fierce Fighting Rocks Mogadishu : "At least eight civilians have been killed in fierce fighting that erupted between government forces and anti-government fighters in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, witnesses say. Six members of one family - mother and five children - were killed when a mortar shell struck a refugee camp on Sunday as fighting escalated in the area."

BBC NEWS | Africa | Ethiopia leaves key Somali town : "Ethiopian troops have withdrawn from a key town in central Somalia. Islamist insurgents say they now control Guriel, where Ethiopia had a big military base to secure the road linking the two countries. A BBC correspondent in Somalia says it is not clear why the Ethiopian troops withdrew without any fighting."