By Jacky Rowland

There has been a temporary construction freeze on the White House lawn in honour of the Middle East peace talks hosted by President Obama. The bulldozers and cranes that are carrying out a refurbishment of the White House grounds drowned out our broadcasts on Tuesday. But on Wednesday they fell silent, as if paying an unconscious tribute to the better known construction freeze in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

By Teymoor Nabili

A number of mainstream news outlets have reported the verdict in the killing of 10 year-old Abir Aramin by Israeli soldiers:

By Teymoor Nabili

President Obama unexpectedly held a hush-hush briefing about Iran last week.

 According to the Washington Post:

By Clayton Swisher

Reflecting on my coverage of the latest UN report released on Tuesday showing a 31 per cent increase in overall Afghan civilians casualties, a couple of questions raised in my mind about the overall chances for success by the US-led coalition.

By Nicole Johnston

As you approach Gaza's main dump by road you see a massive wall of trash looming over the plain.

It's crawling with around one hundred scavenger dogs and dozens of poor children, combing through the trash for anything they can sell.

By Teymoor Nabili

John McCain was attempting comedy, but his little jingle may repeat itself as tragedy.

Republican hawks in the US House of Representatives have introduced a bill to support (encourage?) Israeli military action against Iran.

By Gabriel Elizondo

Hollman Morris is a Colombian journalist who has received dozens of international awards for his work uncovering atrocities and human rights abuses in the decade’s-long armed conflict in his country.

But the United States apparently views him as a terrorist. (More on this terrorist thing later).

By Imran Khan

Standing in the valley I look to the North East and Afghanistan.

The Tora Bora mountains seem to push toward the sky and even in July ominous clouds lurk overhead.

The Pakistani army have brought me to Khurram agency in the remote tribal belt in the North West of the country.

By Clayton Swisher

It's not clear what miracles Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel can work for General Petraeus now that he's the top officer in Kabul.

By Nicole Johnston

First close down the borders and refuse to allow any exports out.

Then ban the importing of any raw material for factories and businesses.

Force the commercial class to rely on expensive underground smuggling tunnels to procure what the community needs. This in turn enriches the tunnel owners.

By Nicole Johnston

Keram Abu Salem Crossing

We watched the trucks roll into Gaza with goods Israel has not allowed in for more than three years.

And when we waved the drivers down to stop so we could see the cargo, there were those innocuous items; kids’ footballs, packets of pencils, children’s backpacks, kitchen cutlery and sewing material.

blockade

By Kristen Saloomey

Israel has engaged in a war of words with the United Nations Correspondents Association which hosted an event during which a passenger on board the Mavi Marmara was allowed to show a video that was shot as Israeli commandoes raided the aid ship.

By Ayman Mohyeldin

Despite the fact East Jerusalem remains, under international law, an occupied city, many Israeli officials, including West Jerusalem's Jewish Mayor Nir Barakat, profess that Jerusalem is a city open for all to live in and move around freely within, including Arabs.

Good evening.  As we speak, our nation faces a multitude of challenges.

At home, our top priority is to recover and rebuild from a recession that has touched the lives of nearly every American.

By Jamal Elshayyal

Firstly I must apologise for taking so long to update my blog. The events of the past few days have been hectic to say the least, and I am still trying to come to grips with many of the things that have happened.

By Clayton Swisher

So much for helping our coverage of the Netanyahu visit.  I arrived in Washington, DC, last week thinking that would be my mission.  Instead I found myself - like the rest of Washington - reacting to the Flotilla crisis.

By Ayman Mohyeldin

They were called "terrorists and al-Qaeda sympathisers"... they were "armed and had planned a premeditated attack"... and finally hours after waiting in the sun to see the evidence, Israel said it would take the media inside the Ashdod port and let us see the cargo carried aboard the Freedom Flotilla...

Israel has started releasing some of the 700 activists it captured after it troops stormed a flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza.

By Jamal Elshayyal

At a time when media and spin are arguably as powerful as armies, the outcomes of battles for hearts and minds often shape the world we live in.

In connection with: Reflections on the Catholic Church Crisis

Do note that such behavior by priests of God is in perfect keeping with the teachings of the Bible, as follows: 
 
As Mark Twain (in Letters From The Earth) told:

Mark Twain | Bible