IPS correspondents bring you independent perspectives on what is happening in Iran, Iraq and across the Middle East.

ISRAEL-US: Goldstone Rejects Netanyahu Remarks
By Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON (IPS) – The head of the U.N. commission that investigated the December-January Gaza war Thursday rejected assertions by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that any action to pursue the recommendations of his commission’s report could prove fatal to any renewed peace process with the Palestinians.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48683

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ECONOMY: ‘Too Early To Declare Success’
Analysis by Jacques N. Couvas
ISTANBUL (IPS) – The official opening of the annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is scheduled for Oct. 6, but political activities and tension have already taken control of the daily life of Istanbul.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48696

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EGYPT: Virtually, Some Real Freedom
By Cam McGrath
CAIRO (IPS) – Egyptians critical of their government are using new media and the Internet to expose its improprieties and press for social change.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48692

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MIDEAST: Finally Taking Off Their Gloves
Analysis by Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler
JERUSALEM (IPS) – Amazingly, just when all four parties – the U.S., its allies in the Arab world, the Palestinian Authority, and Israel – seemed to have hit rock bottom in terms of the prospects of moving the region away from conflict and towards peace, all of a sudden everything seems to be pointing in the exact opposition direction.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48755

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MIDEAST: Voices of Gloom Get Louder
By Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler
ABU DIS, Occupied West Bank (IPS) – Three Israeli soldiers, automatic rifles slung across their shoulders, are questioning a group of Palestinian builders. The top floors being added to the concrete house that lies right alongside Israel’s security wall which divides off occupied East Jerusalem from Palestinian territory on the eastern side of the wall have evidently aroused some concern.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48722

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MIDEAST: A Diplomat Visits, and Listens
By Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler
EAST JERUSALEM (IPS) – The U.S. consulate on Agron Street is something alien in the carefully calibrated diplomatic world of Arab-Israeli politics. No state has its embassy to Israel in Jerusalem.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48677

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DON’T MISS IPS EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE OF THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION.

U.S. President Barack Obama has inherited wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a tanking economy, and global crises like climate change. IPS reports on the implications of the new administration not just for U.S. citizens, but for the world.
www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/us_elections2008/index.asp

For more IPS reporting on the Middle East – www.ipsnews.net/middle.asp
Iraq: Beyond the Green Zone – www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/iraq/
Iran: The Parthian Shot – www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/iran/
Holy Land/Unholy War – www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/israel_palestina/
Afghan Divide – www.ipsnews.net/afghanistan/
Bush’s Legacy – www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/warII/
IPS coverage of terrorism – www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/terrorism/

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