Economist. Sept.15 - Nightmare on Wall Street - A weekend of high drama reshapes American finance...

... The weekend began with hopes that a deal could be struck, with or without government backing, to save Lehman Brothers, America’s fourth-largest investment bank. Early Monday morning Lehman filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It has more than $613 billion of debt.

Other vulnerable financial giants scrambled to sell themselves or raise enough capital to stave off a similar fate…

As spectacular as this weekend was, more drama is on the way.

Spiegel, Sept.17 - The Return of the Finance Crisis - What the Lehman Bankruptcy Means for Germany - The move by US investment bank Lehman Brothers to declare bankruptcy has set off a global earthquake on markets. The crisis is also threatening German financial institutions as well as the country's federal budget…….

WAR

Sept, 14 - Afghanistan Is in Its Worst Shape Since 2001, European Diplomat Says - Geneva — One of the most experienced Western envoys in Afghanistan said Sunday that conditions there had become the worst since 2001. He urged a concerted American and foreign response, even before a new American administration took office, to avoid “a very hot winter for all of us.”

NAVAL EXERCICE
   
Ria Novosti, Sept 8 - Venezuela, Russia to hold joint naval drills in late November - Mexico, - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has announced the timeframe for the upcoming Russian-Venezuelan naval exercise, arranged in line with Russia's plans to extend its presence in international waters.

Jerusalem Post, Sept 8 - …Russian naval vessels are due to call on Venezuelan ports in late November or December, Chavez said. ..

Diplomatic relations between Caracas and Washington have been tense for years. US officials have warned that Chavez poses a threat to democracy, while Chavez has emerged as Latin America's most outspoken critic of US foreign policy in the region…

The Fourth Fleet was active during World War II but was dissolved in 1950. The US Navy announced earlier this year that it would re-establish the fleet to direct naval forces in the Caribbean and Latin America.

The fleet will help maintain security in the region while carrying out humanitarian missions and counter-drug operations, according to US officials.

September 16 (RIA Novosti) - The two Russian Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bombers that landed in Venezuela last week have successfully carried out a patrol mission along the South American coast, a Russian Air Force spokesman said on Tuesday. (Russian strategic bombers - Image gallery)

Sevastopol, September 16 (RIA Novosti) - The U.S. Pathfinder ship entered on Tuesday the Sevastopol harbor that is home to the Ukrainian navy and Russia's Black Sea Fleet (Image gallery), a Russian naval source said.

"This is the second planned visit of Pathfinder at the invitation of Ukraine in the past 10 days," the source said.
   
New York Times, September 12 - U.S. Calls Venezuelan Officials Rebel Supporters - Caracas, Venezuela — The United States stepped up the diplomatic skirmish with its left-wing adversaries in Latin America on Friday, saying it would expel the Venezuelan ambassador and declaring that Venezuela’s top two intelligence officials had supported the “narco-terrorist activities” of rebels in the region.

TERRORISM
   
Haaretz, Sept.18 - U.S.: Strike on Yemen embassy was attempt to breach its walls - Washington - The United States said Wednesday that a vicious attack on its embassy in the Yemeni capital earlier in the day was a failed attempt to breach the compound's walls.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters that the embassy's security upgrades, combined with the response of security officials, were effective in stopping attackers armed with automatic weapons, rocket-propelled grenades and at least one suicide car bomb.

Officials say sixteen people were killed, including six assailants.

McCormack said that no Americans were hurt, but that a U.S. embassy guard from Yemen was killed, along with several Yemeni security officials and some terrorists.

The assault bore all the hallmarks of an al-Qaida attack, he said.

At least 16 people were reported killed in the car bomb attack outside the heavily fortified U.S. embassy in Sanaa, including six attackers.

A group calling itself Islamic Jihad in Yemen claimed responsibility for the bombing, which it said was a suicide attack. The group threatened attacks on embassies of other nations, including those of Britain, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

It had threatened in a previous statement Tuesday to launch a series of attacks unless the Yemeni government met its demands for the release of several of its members from jail.

IRAN

Times-UK,  September 8 - Russia intends to increase nuclear assistance to Iran - Russia is considering increasing its assistance to Iran’s nuclear program in response to The United States' call for NATO expansion eastwards. Moscow remains upset by Washington's renewed support for attempts by Georgia and Ukraine to join NATO and by the presence of US Navy vessels in the Black Sea. In response, the Kremlin is discussing sending teams of Russian nuclear experts to Tehran and inviting Iranian nuclear scientists to Moscow for training. For more information, please visit Infolive.tv Headline News.

ISRAEL

Haaretz, Sept 18 - Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was officially declared the winner of the ruling Kadima party's primary early Thursday morning, making her the successor of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as party leader and likely the next premier - Here are some key facts about her: Livni was born in Tel Aviv on July 8, 1958, and is a leading member of the Kadima party. She is the country's second woman foreign minister - the first was Golda Meir, who later served as prime minister from 1969 to 1974.    
   
Haaretz, Sept 18 - Analysis/ In the West Bank, the law of the jungle rules, By Amos Harel - The violent and ongoing clash with reserve soldiers at the outpost of Yad Yair on Wednesday night and the brawl and shooting in response to the stabbing of a Jewish boy in the outpost near Yitzhar Saturday morning reflect a trend in the territories over the past two months.

The violence probably stems from a combination of reasons, but it is hard to ignore the fact that violence is on the rise in the West Bank between settlers and Palestinians and between settlers and the security forces. …

The weakness of the Israel Defense Forces is particularly visible. The reserve soldiers at Yad Yair, like the regular soldiers at Yitzhar, were unable to stop the settler outbursts and made do with standing aside helplessly. Since the destruction of Amona in 2006, the army has changed its approach and prefers to send in the police and the Border Police to clash with the rioters. But the police are not always available, ..

The present escalation is taking place in the context of more long-term processes, from the disengagement to the Amona evacuation and beyond. All assumptions that the rifts would heal have been proven false. The settlement establishment has once more embraced the IDF, but a considerable group of residents, not only young people and not only residents of the outposts and "hilltop youth" - are pledging that Amona will not fall again.

The Yesha Council of settlements is no longer able to rein them in. These people have not forgiven the state for its actions of recent years and have concluded one thing from them: The disengagement and the demolition of homes in Amona were able to be realized because the settlers were not determined and violent enough to prevent them. …

The outposts are a constant source of front-line friction between the settlers and the Palestinians. In some areas the IDF is allowing Palestinians to reach their lands near outposts more than it did in the past. The residents of the outposts use threats and violence to keep them away.

When the Palestinians use violence, as was the case with the stabbing of the boy in Yitzhar Saturday, the laws of the jungle take over. The hilltop people are convinced that only if their Arab neighbors are afraid will quiet prevail and their families will be able to live in relative security. In a place like Yitzhar, an accounting of the amount of blood shed always hovers in the background, nurtured by the mutual boundless hatred that erupts every few months
   
Washington Times, Sept.11 - Israel Aims to Break Up Syria-Iran Alliance - Nicholas Kralev - Israel's envoy to the U.S., Sallai Meridor, said Tuesday that the main reason his government began talks with Syria earlier this year was to "bring about a strategic repositioning" in the Middle East by breaking up Damascus' alliance with Iran.

He said a "U-turn" in Syria's policy is a "litmus test" for reaching a broad peace agreement with Damascus. "There can't be true peace if Syria continues to align with the Iranian regime and with terror groups," such as Lebanon's Hizbullah.

Jerusalem Post, September 8 - West Bank Economy Is Improving - Yaakov Katz - A series of Israeli goodwill gestures to the Palestinians in the West Bank has helped strengthen the Palestinian economy, the Civil Administration said Monday.

In the last few months, the IDF has removed over 100 roadblocks throughout the West Bank. There has been a sharp increase in the passage of commercial goods as a direct result of an increase in employment licenses and trade permits issued to Palestinian merchants and business owners. A large expansion of the tourism industries in Bethlehem and Jericho has also occurred. Fresh agricultural produce exported to Israel has grown by 25 percent.
    
New York Times,  Sept.11 - Jenin: A Dress Rehearsal for Palestinian Statehood? - Ethan Bronner - Until late last year, gunfire was common in the streets of Jenin in the northern West Bank. Armed militiamen used the hospital as a dormitory.

Now, newly trained and equipped Palestinian security officials have restored order. Israeli soldiers have pulled back from bases and are in close touch with their Palestinian colleagues. Civilians are planning economic cooperation - an industrial zone to provide thousands of jobs, mostly to Palestinians, and another involving organic produce grown by Palestinians and marketed in Europe by Israelis. Israeli Arabs are playing a key role.
   
The aim is to stand conventional wisdom on its head. Instead of a shaky negotiated peace treaty imposing coexistence from the top down, a bottom-up set of relationships should lead to a real two-state solution. "We got a clear American message that the Palestinian state will start from Jenin," asserted Col. Radi Asideh, deputy commander of the Palestinian security forces in Jenin who have recently received new Land Rovers and AK-47 assault rifles.
   
Gen. James L. Jones, special American envoy to the region, said this week after visiting Jenin: "I see this as a kind of dress rehearsal for statehood, a crucible where the two sides can prove things to each other." Ehud Barak, Israel's defense minister, said: "So far, Jenin is a great success. The Palestinian police have created a different mood there. We need to see money being poured into projects now to keep the momentum going. If done right, we think this could become an example."
       
Haaretz, September 15 - Akiva Eldar and Avi Issacharoff - In an interview, Abbas was asked: "Is it clear that on the issue of the right of return, the refugees will return only to the areas of the Palestinian state?" Abbas replied: ""Not at all. This issue is not at all clear. There are today five million Palestinian refugees whose forefathers were expelled from the area of Israel, not from the West Bank and Gaza. We understand that if we demand of you that all five million return to Israel, the State of Israel would be destroyed. But we must talk about compromise and see to what numbers you can agree....We intend to hold talks with Israel about the number of refugees who will return to its area."
       
Haaretz, September 16 - PA Strengthens Control in West Bank - Avi Issacharoff - The chaos that once reigned in the West Bank's cities and villages has vanished, replaced by Palestinian security forces. Armed militias are no longer part of the landscape.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades have been all but disbanded, and most of their members have joined the PA security apparatus. PA security has shut down or taken control of 45 Hamas and Islamic Jihad-run charities.

Their schools and hospitals are now being run under the PA's watchful eye. Hamas' military apparatus in the West Bank still exists, but it no longer presents an immediate threat to PA institutions. The Hamas-run shopping center in Nablus, closed two months ago by the IDF, was recently reopened after the PA ousted its management in favor of its own people.
   
Yedioth Aharonot,  September 16 - Palestinian Running for Jerusalem Council - Ronny Shaked - Zohir Hamdan, 60, a Palestinian serving as the mukhtar (head) of the eastern Jerusalem village of Tzur Baher, is running for the capital's city council on an independent list, the first time a Palestinian is taking part in the city's municipal elections.

Ynet/ News,Sept.11 - Israel: Hamas More Powerful than PA - Steven Gutkin - Israel's point man in indirect, Egyptian-mediated talks with Hamas, senior Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad, said Wednesday the Islamic militant group is more powerful than the Western-backed Palestinian government. Gilad, making a rare appearance before foreign diplomats and journalists at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, said current peace talks between Israel and the moderate Palestinian forces in charge of the West Bank are not likely to bear fruit until those forces retake Gaza from Hamas. "It's very difficult to sign an agreement with half your body," he said.
   
Gilad said he believes Hamas' goal is to take over the West Bank as well. For the time being, however, he said the militants have decided to halt suicide bombings and rocket attacks on Israel because "the price is too high." 

Jerusalem Post, Sept 16 - Hamas Officials: 11 dead in battle with Doghmush clan - Hamas forces assaulted the compound of a heavily armed Gaza clan early Tuesday, sparking a fierce street battle that killed 11 people in fighting throughout the night, Hamas officials said. Two bystanders, including a young boy, were among the dead.
   
Infolive,tv, September 8 - Iranian Revolutionary Guards merge with Hizbullah - Top Israeli defense officials have revealed that Iran is consolidating its grip on Hizbullah and has instituted a number of structural changes to the Lebanese group, under which Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah no longer enjoys exclusive command over its military wing.

According to the officials, following the Second Lebanon War, Iran decided to step up its control over the terrorist organization forcing Nasrallah to receive Iranian permission before carrying out any important decisions.

INTERNATIONAL AID

MFA hosts briefing for donor states delegates - Delegates from donor states and international organizations met at the Foreign Ministry for a briefing prior to the AHLC meeting in New York later this month.
(Communicated by the Foreign Ministry Spokesperson)

….The AHLC was established fifteen years ago by the Government of Norway and is involved in coordinating international aid for the purpose of building and strengthening the capabilities and institutions of the Palestinian Authority.

The next donors meeting will take place in New York on 22 September, close to the beginning of the UN General Assembly. The agenda is expected to include the PA's financial crisis and increasing the effectiveness of aid for security. The meeting will be chaired by the foreign minister of Norway and will host UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.

Invitations to the meeting were extended to the United States, Canada, Egypt, the European Union, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Jordan, Tunisia, Russia, Germany, Italy, Kuwait, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Britain, Israel, the World Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, the Saudi Fund for Development, and the Palestinian Authority.
 
Washington Post, September 16 - Holocaust Scholars Urge Prosecution of Sudan's President for Genocide - Arthur Max - Some 130 Holocaust scholars appealed Monday to International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo to pursue his indictment of Sudan's president on charges of genocide in Darfur, saying said the prosecution of Omar al-Bashir would "deter future atrocities." Moreno-Ocampo requested an arrest warrant for al-Bashir in July. The Arab League and the African Union have sought a UN resolution to suspend the indictment against the Sudanese leader.
   
"The governments that are trying to protect al-Bashir should be ashamed of themselves," said Rafael Medoff, director of the Washington-based David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies which organized the appeal.

Misperceptions about Islam - Bernard Lewis (Foreign Policy) 

• Terrorism only comes from one brand of Islam, and even that one brand of Islam is not entirely committed to terrorism.

• I don't like the term "Islamofascism" because it's insulting to Muslims. They see it as insulting to link the name of their religion with the most detestable of all the European movements. I prefer to use the term "radical Islam."

• When a large part of the Muslim world was under foreign rule, then you might say that terrorism was a result of imperialism, of imperial rule and occupation. But at the present time, almost the whole of the Muslim world has achieved its independence. They can no longer blame others for what goes wrong.
• What is important in Iraq is not that it's being ruled by the Shiites, but that it's being ruled by a democracy, by a free, elected government that faces a free opposition. It proves what is often disputed, that the development of democratic institutions in a Muslim Arab country is possible. 
• What is happening in Iraq I find profoundly encouraging. Of course, it is the ripple effect from Iraq that is causing alarm among all the tyrants that rule these countries [in the region]. If it works in Iraq, it could work elsewhere, and this is very disturbing [for tyrants].
  

The writer is professor emeritus at Princeton University.

ANTI-SEMITISM

Infolive,tv  September 3 - Hamas Television Broadcasts Anti-Semitic Propaganda Film Reminiscent Of Nazi Germany - Hamas’ Al-Aqsa television station aired a preview of a new animated propaganda film depicting religious Jews digging under the Temple Mount, encouraged by the IDF.

The film, provided by the Palestinian Media Watch organization, depicts religious Jews in a clearly anti-Semitic fashion reminiscent of propaganda from Nazi Germany.