Sinai's Invisible War
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Mohamed Fadel Fahmy - (Opinion) August 13, 2012 - 12:00am


Over the weekend, Mohamed Morsy cleaned house. Following weeks of deadlock with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), Egypt's first popularly elected president finally stepped out of the military's shadow, sacking a laundry list of top generals, including Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, and annulling a controversial military decree that curbed the president's powers.


Adviser: Morsy studying Camp David Accords amendment issue
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Egypt Independent
August 13, 2012 - 12:00am


President Mohamed Morsy is studying whether to amend the Camp David Accords to ensure Egypt’s full sovereignty and control over every inch of Sinai, said Mohamed Gadallah, legal adviser to the president. Calls for amending the peace treaty with Israel, which also governs the security presence in the Sinai Peninsula, have been on the rise since last week’s attack on a military checkpoint at the border left 16 Egyptian security officers dead.


Al-Malki to inaugurate Palestinian consulate in Dominican Republic
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 14, 2012 - 12:00am


The Palestinian Authority foreign minister will travel to the Dominican Republic on Wednesday to inaugurate a newly established Palestinian Consulate on the Caribbean Island. Riyad al-Malki told Ma'an he would participate in the opening ceremony in Santo Domingo, during which the Palestinian flag will be raised over the consulate. The ceremony will be attended by the newly elected president Danilo Medina Sanchez.


The Night that The Lights Went Out?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Linda Gradstein - August 14, 2012 - 12:00am


The Palestinian Authority (PA) owes more than $170 million to the Israel Electric Company, and Israel is threatening to cut off the flow unless the debt is paid. Palestinian officials say that could cause widespread blackouts throughout the West Bank.


This Headline is About Very Important Quiet
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Gershom Gorenberg - (Opinion) August 13, 2012 - 12:00am


Have you read the news about the Israeli-Palestinian peace process? Of course you haven't. Nothing is happening in Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking. The lack of diplomacy is a desperately important matter. But headlines are written about things that happen. Peace agreements are news, as are explosions on downtown streets. A quiet, unstable no-peace-no-war that could collapse on an unknown date isn't a headline.


Palestinians face losing their home on the (firing) range
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Andreas Heckl - August 13, 2012 - 12:00am


Khalid Jabareen's tone was frantic as he discussed the future of his village and family, even though he thought the moment he dreaded – when they would be expelled from their homes – was months away. 


Bibi and Barak: Enough Chatter, Decide Already
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'ariv
by Ben Caspit - (Opinion) August 12, 2012 - 12:00am


You can all relax — in the last two weeks, nothing new has happened with regard to an attack on Iran. The cabinet hasn’t convened, the defense minister hasn’t summoned the IDF general staff and no new information has been received. Everything that is known today was known two months ago.


Israeli rights group urges to reexamine police misconduct in East Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
August 14, 2012 - 12:00am


The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) wants the Justice Ministry to re-open cases of police misconduct filed by Arab residents living in East Jerusalem. The ministry's department in charge of investigating complaints against policemen closed several cases in recent months for lack of evidence or public interest, the Ha'aretz daily reported Monday. Israel annexed East Jerusalem after the 1967 war. Its 270,000 Arab residents carry Israeli ID cards and are eligible for all municipal services.


Israeli defense ministry asks for billions more in 2013 budget
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
August 14, 2012 - 12:00am


The Israeli Defense Ministry is asking for several billion shekels more than the Israeli Finance Ministry is willing to allocate to it in 2013 budget, according to local media. In discussions set to begin Wednesday, an 11.5-billion-shekel ( 3.5 billion U.S. dollars) gap remains between what the military is requesting - 62 billion shekels (15.5 billion U.S. dollars) - and the Finance Ministry's 50.5-billion-shekel (12.5 billion U.S. dollars) offer.


Israel holding up settlement college upgrade
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
August 13, 2012 - 12:00am


Israel's defense minister is holding up the politically charged upgrade of the only West Bank settlement college to a full-fledged university. A month after a settler council approved the upgrade, a spokesman said Defense Minister Ehud Barak has to study the security and diplomatic implications before signing off on the move. Without his go-ahead, the upgrade cannot be finalized.



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