NY TIMES– The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials. The previously unknown deposits — including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like … Read More
The Middle East
Gaza Blockade Isn’t About Security
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MCCLATCHY– As Israel ordered a slight easing of its blockade of the Gaza Strip Wednesday, McClatchy obtained an Israeli government document that describes the blockade not as a security measure but as “economic warfare” against the Islamist group Hamas, which rules the Palestinian territory. Israel imposed severe restrictions on Gaza in June 2007, after Hamas won elections and took control … Read More
500 Activists from Aid Flotilla Now in Jail
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J POST– Over 600 passengers from the Gaza-bound flotilla which was raided by Israeli forces on Monday were detained on Monday evening and Tuesday morning. Forty-five detainees were deported on Tuesday from Ben Gurion International Airport, while an additional three were waiting for flights out of the country. Some 130 activists were transferred early Tuesday afternoon to the Ela Prison … Read More
Israeli Commandos Storm Aid Flotilla, Killing Ten
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(Video Below) CBS– Israeli naval commandos stormed a flotilla of ships carrying aid and hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists to the blockaded Gaza Strip on Monday, killing nine passengers in a botched raid that provoked international outrage and a diplomatic crisis. Dozens of activists and six Israeli soldiers were wounded in the bloody predawn confrontation in international waters. The violent takeover … Read More
Israel Offered to Sell South Africa Nuclear Weapons, Confirming Israel’s Possession
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GUARDIAN– Secret South African documents reveal that Israel offered to sell nuclear warheads to the apartheid regime, providing the first official documentary evidence of the state’s possession of nuclear weapons. The “top secret” minutes of meetings between senior officials from the two countries in 1975 show that South Africa‘s defence minister, PW Botha, asked for the warheads and Shimon Peres, … Read More