Al-Qaeda's supposed top man in Saudi Arabia has been killed. Will it mean any de-escalation of violence in the desert kkingdom? Or is this a hydra-headed monster? This July 4 AFP account from Qatar's Gulf Times:

Qaeda chief killed in Riyadh shootout

By Lydia Georgi

RIYADH: Al Qaeda’s suspected frontman in Saudi Arabia was killed in a shootout with security forces in the capital yesterday only five days after authorities put him at the top of a new list of wanted militants.

Claims of civilians wiped out in US air raids, journalists detained by security forces, GIs missing in combat. My, things just look better and better in Afghanistan. Thanks to Lebanon's Daily Star for this report which, while compiled from wire services, is more comprehensive and realistic than most of what we're getting in the US press.

Has anyone noticed the unsubtle political jockeying over which country gets to host the new fusion energy research facility offically known as the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER)? It finally went to France, over the predictable objections of Washington. Writes The Economist, June 30:

Finally the State of Israel is admitting that its "separation barrier," most of which is illegally built on occupied Palestinian territory in the West Bank, is not placed where it is solely due to "security" considerations. The form of admission came in a petition to the Israeli High Court brought on behalf of villages in the Qalqilya district, in which the state complained it would be "very expensive to move" the fence from its current location. Not a word from the Zionist lobby and hasbara (propaganda) forces which have worked overtime to project an image of the fence as a "temporary" security measure which can be removed when the Palestinians turn into "Finns:"

More reports of unspeakable horror, courtesy of the leader of the free world, and its junior partner. Thanks to TruthOut for passing this along.

UK Aid Funds Iraqi Torture Units
By Peter Beaumont and Martin Bright
The Observer UK

Sunday 03 July 2005

British and American aid intended for Iraq's hard-pressed police service is being diverted to paramilitary commando units accused of widespread human rights abuses, including torture and extra-judicial killings, The Observer can reveal.

Gershon Baskin is co-CEO of the Israel-Palestine Center for Research and Information (ICPRI), a joint Israeli -Palestinian think tank which was involved with the Oslo process. In the June 28 Jerusalem Post, he writes:

"Meeting with people in the halls of Congress to exchange views, the first questions I was asked were: What does AIPAC have to say about that? Have you spoken to AIPAC? There is little doubt that AIPAC has successfully instilled a strong sense on the Hill that anything that concerns the US-Israel relationship must be checked with them first.

OK, is it the Serbs or Albanians who are behind this one? From the AP, July 2:

PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro — At least three blasts rocked the centre of Kosovo's capital late Saturday and one targeted the UN mission headquarters. At least three UN vehicles were set ablaze in the parking lot of the mission headquarters. There were no immediate reports of any injuries after at least two near-simultaneous blasts, said Hua Jiang, chief UN spokeswoman.

Is the Russian province of Dagestan going the way of neighboring Chechnya? This July 2 AFP account (online at Qatar's The Peninsula) makes a disturbingly good case: