Editorial: Even A President... ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Times (Editorial) January 23, 2008 - 8:38pm Even a president of the United States must get used to being defied by his enemies. But it is far more galling to be defied by one's friends. And when a president of the United States on one of his extremely rare visits to the Middle East manages to get humiliatingly defied by Saudi Arabia and Israel on the same trip, something is clearly very wrong somewhere. That was the hapless fate of U.S. President George W. Bush on his much heralded swing through the region to promote his current favorite causes of peace and democracy. » Read more

Mideast: In Gaza, It's Darkness At Noon ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS) by Mohammed Omer - January 23, 2008 - 8:37pm It gets dark, and cold, and people are getting hungry. Israel closed border crossings Friday, not allowing even UN humanitarian aid trucks carrying basic food. Crossings have been closed frequently since October 2007. "On Wednesday or Thursday we will have to suspend our food distribution programme in Gaza," spokesman for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) Christopher Gunness told IPS. "We are running out of fuel for vehicles." » Read more

Gaza Border Breached; Thousands Flood Into Egypt ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Rushdi Abu Alouf, Richard Bourdreaux - January 23, 2008 - 8:37pm Masked gunmen used explosives to blow holes in the Gaza Strip's border fence early today, enabling thousands of Palestinians to pour into Egypt to buy food, fuel and other supplies that had been cut off because of an Israeli blockade, witnesses said. Egyptian and Palestinian border guards did not resist the mass crossing at the Rafah terminal. Witnesses said Palestinian security officials later closed some of the breaches but kept two open, allowing Gazans to cross into Egypt and return with milk, cigarettes and plastic bottles of fuel. » Read more

Palestinians Blow Up Border Wall, Flood Into Egypt ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Nidal Al-mughrabi - January 23, 2008 - 8:34pm Tens of thousands of Palestinians poured into Egypt from the Gaza Strip on Wednesday after militants blew up a border wall, and stocked up on food and fuel in short supply because of an Israeli blockade. "Those people are hungry for freedom, for food and for everything," said an Egyptian shopkeeper who gave her name only as Hamida, surveying shelves emptied swiftly by Gazans paying with Egyptian pounds and Israeli shekels. » Read more