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POLITICS-US: Vets Mull Wins and Losses in Benefits Fight Aaron Glantz* SAN FRANCISCO - You could hear the joy in Patrick Campbell's voice as he reflected on U.S. President George W. Bush's signing Monday of a new GI Bill of Rights for veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan. MORE >>
Q&A: What the Most Seen Photographs Say Interview with film director Errol Morris BRUSSELS - No matter how familiar they become, the photographs depicting abuse at Abu Ghraib prison never seem to lose their ability to shock. MORE >>
IRAQ: Journalist Charges Censorship by U.S. Military in Fallujah Dahr Jamail SAN FRANCISCO - U.S. journalist Zoriah Miller says he was censored by the U.S. military in the Iraqi city of Fallujah after photographing Marines who died in a suicide bombing. MORE >>
RIGHTS-US: "State Secrets" Privilege Derails Rendition Suit William Fisher NEW YORK - Maher Arar, whose "rendition" to Syria is widely viewed as an egregious example of mistaken identity, has again been denied the right to appear in court, and Congressional efforts to rein in the George W. Bush administration's widespread use of national security as a defence appear to be foundering. MORE >>
MIDEAST: When You Shoot the Messenger Mel Frykberg GAZA CITY - The assault of IPS Gaza correspondent Mohammed Omer has left Israeli security personnel with a lot of explaining to do. And they are not doing a very good job of it. MORE >>
LEBANON: Civil Wars Find New Fronts Mona Alami TRIPOLI - An eerie calm reigns over the new demarcation lines drawn in northern Tripoli, the second largest city in Lebanon, which gets its name from the Greek 'tri-polis', or 'three cities'. One week after violent combat erupted between the Alawite minority from the Jabal Mohsen area and the Sunni community of Bab el-Tebbaneh -- separated by the wide Syria Street -- tensions still run high. MORE >>
RIGHTS-US: Critics See Vendetta in Al-Arian's Legal Limbo Ali Gharib WASHINGTON - Palestinian activist and former university professor Sami Al-Arian was arraigned Monday in U.S. federal court on two counts of criminal contempt for his refusal to testify in a grand jury investigation of a Northern Virginia Muslim think-tank. MORE >>
POLITICS: Iranian Envoy Calls New Offer "Constructive" Omid Memarian UNITED NATIONS - Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Wednesday that Tehran is finalising its response to the European Union's latest offer to suspend uranium enrichment, as European officials called for more pressure by the U.N. Security Council if Iran rejects the incentives package. MORE >>
POLITICS: Official Says Iran Accepts P5+1 Talks Proposal Gareth Porter* WASHINGTON - A senior Iranian official reportedly told members of the Iranian parliament Monday that Iran has agreed to freeze its enrichment programme for six weeks and begin negotiations with the P5+1 group of states as early as next week, according to reports of that decision by the Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) and by a Farsi-language website in Iran. MORE >>
ISRAEL: Silicon Wadi Shows the Way Peter Hirschberg JERUSALEM - Alex Argov is now onto his fifth high-tech company. A serial entrepreneur, Argov's latest product is an Internet-based telephone that scrambles messages, making it almost impossible to eavesdrop on a conversation. MORE >>
MIDEAST: Sewage in Water Threatens Gazans Mel Frykberg GAZA CITY - Gaza is being forced to pump 77 tonnes of untreated or partially treated sewage out to sea daily due to the Israeli blockade of the coastal territory. The fear is that some of this is creeping back into drinking water. MORE >>
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