Latest World News:
Occupied Jerusalem, Palestine -- 24 Palestinians
were arrested by Israeli Defense Occupation forces in the West Bank on Tuesday.
The arrest of the Palestinians came at a time of final stages of prisoner
swap between Hezbollah and Israel. In the swap deal, Israel shall release
over 235 Palestinian prisoners, over 200 bodies and in addition five Lebanese
prisoners of war, including Samir Kantar, the longest held prisoner in the
World.
The arrested Palestinians are suspected of being freedom fighters fighting
the Israeli army in occupied Palestine.
Israel, since its occupation of Palestine in 1948,
has committed daily crimes against the Palestinians. Illegal settlements
were established illegally depriving the Palestinians from their homes and
lands. Palestinian groups are waging a war of Independence from European
Zionists who occupied Palestine since 1948.
Baghdad, Iraq -- As the death toll of U.S. personnel killed in Iraq approaches
the 4,200 mark, four more U.S. servicemembers were killed on Wednesday. At
least 3359 died as a result of hostile action, and about 13,487
servicemembers were wounded and not returned to duty, according to the U.S.
military.
For the latest on the number of soldiers killed, check
the U.S. Dept of Defense website at the following link,
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/casualty.pdf.
The number of U.S. soldiers and personnel killed or
wounded in Iraq has been disputed by many U.S. informed sources and military
Generals. According to them, the real number is much higher than the number
reported by the U.S. DOD.
According to two independent and reliable U.S. studies,
over 680 thousands Iraqi civilians, military personnel and militias have
been killed since the invasion in 2003.
Nakoura, South Lebanon -- 30 years had passed and Samir Kuntar behind bars,
on Wednesday HE and four others are expected to be freed in the prisoner
swap between Hezbollah and Israel. Kuntar who does not belong to Hezbollah
is considered the longest held prisoner ever. He was captured in 1979 while
infiltrating the occupied territories and engaging
Israelis. Israel gave him multiple life-sentences for allegedly killing Israelis
while engaging the soldiers who tried to capture him.
The return of Kuntar and the other Lebanese is being
celebrated in Lebanon as another victory to Hezbollah, and specifically to
its leader Sheik Hassan Nasrollah, who in June 2006, days after the capture
of the two Israeli soldiers promised to return Kuntar and all the Lebanese
held in (occupied Palestine) Israel.
Then Nasrollah said, "no power on earth will be able to free the Israeli
soldiers, except through indirect negotiations." And that is what happened.
The exchange of prisoner is scheduled for Wednesday, at
9:00am.
Khartoum, Sudan -- The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court
at The Hague files charges including genocide, murder and crimes against
humanity against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, accusing him of masterminding
a brutal campaign against tribes in Darfur. Judges are to weigh a request
for an arrest warrant.
Sudan has rejected the court authority and the charges.
Beirut, Lebanon -- At last the Lebanese announced and formed a 30-member
national unity Cabinet, the new ministers were named as follow:
Prime Minister: Fuad Saniora
Deputy Prime Minister: Issam Abu Jamra
Defense Minister: Elias Murr
Justice Minister: Ibrahim Najjar
Finance Minister: Mohammed Shatah
Foreign Affairs, Immigrant affairs: Fawzi Salloukh
Telecommunications: Jibran Bassil
Information: Tarek Mitri
Public Health: Mohammed Jawad Khalife
Education: Bahia Hariri
Interior, Municipalities: Ziad Baroud
Labor: Mohammed Fneish
Culture: Tammam Salam
Refugee Affairs: Raymond Audi
Social Affairs: Mario Aoun
Public Works and Transportation: Ghazi Aridi
Power and Hydraulic Resources: Alain Tabourian
Youth and Sports: Talal Erslan
Industry: Ghazi Zoeiter
Tourism: Elie Marouni
Economy and Trade: Mohammed al-Safadi
Agriculture: Elias Skaff
Environment: Antoine Karam
State Minister for Administrative Development: Ibrahim Shamseddine
State Minister: Khaled Qabbani
State Minister: Jean Oghasapian
State Minister: Nassib Lahoud
State Minister: Wael Abu Faour
State Minister: Youssef Takla
State Minister: Ali Kanso
Source: AP, Reuters, and Other News Bureaus
Contributed to this News Brief. |
