Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7814054.stm

At least 30 people were killed and 55 injured when Israeli artillery shells landed outside a United Nations-run school in Gaza, UN officials have said. A number of children were among those who died when the al-Fakhura school in the Jabaliya refugee camp was hit, doctors at nearby hospitals said. Israel said its soldiers had come under fire from militants inside the school. Earlier, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned of a "full-blown humanitarian crisis" in Gaza. MSNBC: Israel Bombs Two U.N. Gaza Schools - 35 Dead. Toll Rises.

Link: http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/en/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7EeigGkBiArjE0upA2v6zpiMcJAA%2b1SLXU48fMdMMEkH8pWXMDJQ9GJbkRu3FS%2bstwqTCFgbpWEHiDF59KzebhtFnQ9ReNOaP5LqJWf14Hic%3d

At least 10 IOF soldiers were killed and 30 others were wounded, Monday night, when Qassam fighters lured them in a trap. Qassam sources told PIC correspondent that the fighters managed to lure a group of infantry elite soldiers into a booby-trapped building in the northern Gaza Strip, detonated the explosives planted in the building and clashed with the soldiers until helicopters arrived and bombed the area around the building to evacuate the dead and injured soldiers. PressTV: Hamas shows video of shot down drone.

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/01/05/nytfrontpage/20080105POD_7.html

The body of one of three Palestinian siblings from the al-Samoni family, killed by an Israeli tank shell, laid in the mortuary of Al Shifa hospital. Seven members from the al-Samoni family were killed including the mother, three children and a baby, when an Israeli shell struck their house, south of Gaza City. The death toll of Palestinians passed 500 since the Israeli assault began.

Link: http://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/7nov2/norways_sovereign_wealth_fund_to_stop_investing/

Norways sovereign wealth fund is one of the biggest investors world wide managing around 300 billion US $. This is my English translation of Robert Gjerde reportage in Aftenposten 6/1/09 (A conservative newspaper). The Norwegian minister of Finance yesterday asked the ethical council of the government pension fund to examine if the fund has invested in Israeli companies or other companies related to Israel occupation of Palestinian territories.

Link: http://wire.antiwar.com/2009/01/05/us-appeals-court-detainee-ids-can-be-secret-2/

US court: Government can withhold names of detainees allegedly abused at Guantanamo. A federal appeals court ruled Monday that the government can keep secret the identities of detainees who claim they've been abused at the prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan reversed a lower court judge's ruling regarding eight files containing records documenting allegations of detainee abuse by military personnel, as well as documents containing reports of allegations of detainee-against-detainee abuse. The misconduct alleged to have been carried out by military personnel included spraying detainees with water hoses, striking them, using pepper spray against them and splashing them with cleaning products.

Link: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=090106002219.dz59dzap&show_article=1

An airline passenger forced to cover his T-shirt because it displayed Arabic script has been awarded 240,000 dollars in compensation, campaigners said Monday. Raed Jarrar received the pay out on Friday from two US Transportation Security Authority officials and from JetBlue Airways following the August 2006 incident at New York's JFK Airport, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced. "The outcome of this case is a victory for free speech and a blow to the discriminatory practice of racial profiling," said Aden Fine, a lawyer with ACLU. Jarrar, a US resident, was apprehended as he waited to board a JetBlue flight from New York to Oakland, California, and told to remove his shirt, which had written on it in Arabic: "We will not be silent."

Link: http://www.imemc.org/article/58348

A Palestinian woman and her four children were killed in a recent Israeli air strike in Gaza, and more Palestinian civilians are being killed by the hour as the Israeli Army continues its air strikes and ground offensive against the residents of Gaza. At least 577 Palestinians, including women and children, have been killed and more than 2,700 wounded. Medical sources in Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, reported that an Israeli missile struck a Palestinian home in Al Zeitoun neighborhood east of Gaza City killing a woman and her children. URUKNET: In Pictures: the slaughter of Gazan children Victims of the Israeli occupation forces in the tenth day of their attacks on Gaza Strip - January 5, 2009 Al Arab: Gaza's worsening nightmare.

Link: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/jan2009/gaza-j06.shtml

[Mads Gilbert, a Norwegian doctor in Gaza, tells Sky News that the number of civilians injured and killed in Gaza proves that Israel is deliberately attacking the population.]

The toll of Palestinians killed and wounded continues to rise rapidly as Israel intensifies its combined air and ground assault on the largely defenseless and starved Gaza Strip. While Israel conducts a campaign of killing and collective punishment against the civilian population, the United States continues to block all diplomatic initiatives aimed at imposing a cease-fire. Since Israeli troops, tanks and artillery crossed the border into Gaza Saturday night, at least 64 more Palestinian civilians have been killed, bringing the total in the 11-day war to more than 530. The number of wounded is in the thousands.

Israeli forces, enjoying total control of the air and advanced weaponry, are reportedly facing resistance from Hamas fighters, who are equipped only with primitive mortars and small arms. Israel has confirmed the death of one solider and the wounding of thirty others. Despite the Israeli ground assault and ongoing bombardment of homes, government buildings, mosques, fire stations, universities and ambulances, some 40 rockets were fired from Gaza into southern Israel on Sunday. The ground offensive has cut power supplies and exacerbated an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis. PIB: APRES LE MASSACRE DE CANA EN 2006 , LE MASSACRE COURAGEUX A DISTANCE DES ENFANTS DE GAZA DECEMBRE 2008/JANVIER 2009 (Israeli atrocities. Photos.) PressTV: Unconventional weapons used against Gazans. Creative-I: Israel’s own Holocaust (and the US’s, and ours).

Link: http://www.russiatoday.com/news/news/35602

Several European countries have had their deliveries of gas through Ukraine cut off, a situation which the EU describes as "unacceptable". Gazprom says Ukraine's energy company has shut off a number of pipelines. Meanwhile, the head of Naftogaz has announced he is ready to resume negotiations.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfC4JV5eq0k&feature=related

Police state: Police stripping woman completely naked and she was the one how call for help...KTVU report / YT: Bart Police shooting in Oakland KTVU report.

Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/05/israelandthepalestinians

Wednesday, 5. November, 2008: A four-month ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza was in jeopardy today after Israeli troops killed six Hamas gunmen in a raid into the territory. Hamas responded by firing a wave of rockets into southern Israel, although no one was injured. The violence represented the most serious break in a ceasefire agreed in mid-June, yet both sides suggested they wanted to return to atmosphere of calm.

Link: http://globalvoicesonline.org/2009/01/05/is-facebook-censoring-information-on-israel-and-palestine/

A friend of mine had to go through such an irritating experience with the facebook administration; according to Ibrahim Mughrabi, facebook has deleted content on his personal profile related to the “Zionist attacks on Gaza”. He says he’s been contacted by the administration and warned that he’d be suspended from posting stuff on facebook if he continues to do so! So much for free speech and equal rights for everyone in this world.

Link: http://entertainment.oneindia.in/hollywood/top-stories/scoop/2009/liskula-files-lawsuit-google-060109.html

Model Liskula Cohen has filed a lawsuit against Google in a bid to unmask the blogger who called her a 'skank' and an 'old hag' on a Web site meant to ruin her image. The Vogue model, who has posed for Giorgio Armani and Versace, wants to force Google to reveal who defamed her on the blog 'Skanks in NYC' as the 'No.1 skanky superstar'. Antiwar: Model wants Google to identify anonymous commenter who bashed her on web site: Liskula Cohen, in her filing in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, said the commentary on her hygiene and sexual habits on the site was defamatory, malicious and false.

Link: http://detainthis.wordpress.com/2009/01/03/stay-updated-on-the-us-israeli-blitz-of-terror-on-gaza/

These sites will keep you best updated on the contextual reality being concealed by the corporate-state media.

Link: http://www.democracynow.org/2009/1/5/israeli_professor_neve_gordon_condemns_israeli

Earlier this morning, three Qassam rockets exploded in open areas in the western Negev in Israel. We go to the region to speak with Neve Gordon, chair of the Department of Politics and Government, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel, and the author of Israel’s Occupation. [includes rush transcript] Sabbah: Gaza Massacre Slideshow: This is what Israel and CNN don't want you to see…

Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE5044JS20090105

President-elect Barack Obama has chosen Leon Panetta, who was White House chief of staff for President Bill Clinton, to lead the CIA, Democratic officials said on Monday. The choice of Panetta for Central Intelligence Agency director was one of the last major nominations for the incoming Obama administration, which takes over from President George W. Bush on January 20. Outside of his stint in the White House, where he served between 1994 and 1997, Panetta has relatively little experience in national security matters.

Link: http://indexresearch.blogspot.com/2009/01/index-on-afghanistan-december-2008.html

Stalin was not the only person to carry out historical revisionism. This ‘negationism’ also happened in Japan. Germany’s holocaust denial was a shocker. Iraq has been the new focus for “deceptive semantics.”

Afghanistan is also getting its fair share of revisionism. A CRS Report for Congress , written by Kenneth Katzman and dated 27 August 2003, airbrushed the history of wars in Afghanistan. “Afghanistan is a fragile state attempting, with substantial U.S. help, to stabilize after more than 22 years of warfare including a US-led war, that brought the current government to power.” The report continues “Afghan citizens are enjoying new personal freedoms that were forbidden under the Taliban.” A read of all the Index on Afghanistan research articles will show this to be false.

Obama has blamed Afghanistan and Pakistan, as being the ‘source’ of terrorism. He is wrong. This myopic AIPAC view, this disinformation ,needs immediate correction. Israel has occupied the Palestinian territories for 41 YEARS (some authorities say 51). This occupation is the ‘source’ of world terrorism. Now Obama has adopted Bush’s delusion of “progress”. The reality is Genocide .

Link: http://palestinian.ning.com/forum/topics/the-other-side-of-the-story

We have heard the Palestinian side of the story, as you can see from the images below: [...]. Now, let's see the other side of the story, shall we? The carnage, the destruction, the annihilation, the pain, and the horror caused by qassam rockets: [...].

Link: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=aOQqhvplwdY

The truth about israel is that it is a terrorist occupying state in palestine. Palestinians have every right to fight against occupation. Creative-I: The obscenity that is the state of Israel. + The Invasion of Gaza: “Operation Cast Lead”, Part of a Broader Israeli Military-Strategic Agenda. AntiWar: Rationalizing Gaza: How they do it.

Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7811386.stm

The bloodied children are clearly civilians; men killed as they launch rockets are undisputedly not. But what about the 40 or so young Hamas police recruits on parade who died in the first wave of Israel's bombing campaign in Gaza? -Some very few of the civilians carry a gun as a means of legitimate self-defense against the war criminals attacking them. 99% of people in Gaza carry no weapon at all. For all intents & purposes, ALL OF THEM ARE CIVILIANS. To even raise this question, like the BBC here does, is a sneaky attempt to justify the Israeli war crimes. Redress: Speak out against the slaughter in Gaza.

Link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5447590.ece

Israel is believed to be using controversial white phosphorus shells to screen its assault on the heavily populated Gaza Strip yesterday. The weapon, used by British and US forces in Iraq, can cause horrific burns but is not illegal if used as a smokescreen.

As the Israeli army stormed to the edges of Gaza City and the Palestinian death toll topped 500, the tell-tale shells could be seen spreading tentacles of thick white smoke to cover the troops’ advance. “These explosions are fantastic looking, and produce a great deal of smoke that blinds the enemy so that our forces can move in,” said one Israeli security expert. Burning blobs of phosphorus would cause severe injuries to anyone caught beneath them and force would-be snipers or operators of remote-controlled booby traps to take cover. Israel admitted using white phosphorus during its 2006 war with Lebanon. The use of the weapon in the Gaza Strip, one of the world’s mostly densely population areas, is likely to ignite yet more controversy over Israel’s offensive, in which more than 2,300 Palestinians have been wounded. Pacific Free Press: War Crime du Jour: Israel Deploys White Phosphorus Shells. PressTV: White phosphorus added to Israeli fire.

Link: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/jan2009/gaza-j05.shtml

The territory has been cut in three, with the northern town of Beit Hanoun surrounded and clashes also reported in Rafah, on the southern border with Egypt. Gaza city, with a population of 400,000, is surrounded after an armoured force took over the abandoned Jewish settlement of Netzarim. This gives Israel control of the main north-south road. At least 63 Palestinians have been reported killed by Israeli tank shells or missiles since the start of the ground offensive Saturday. The real death toll, however, may be far higher, as emergency medical personnel are not able to reach the areas where fighting is taking place. The total official death toll since Israeli began bombarding Gaza and its 1.5 million people has risen to at least 512, with 87 of those killed children. WSWS: VIDEO: London demonstrators protest Israeli assault on Gaza.

Link: http://palestinethinktank.com/2009/01/05/a-must-read-jewish-propagandist-inadvertently-exposes-his-plot/

Pacifici explains that the Italian Jewish community agreed with the Israeli ambassador on keeping a "low profile"at this time. "I can assure you - writes Pacifici - that the decision to send medicine to Palestinian and Israeli children was taken only for media purposes, and was only used for our struggle which will start on Monday in the media to support Israel". Pacifici announces that on January 10th there will be a "mega-event" with 1,500 personalities chosen together with the Israeli ambassador in order to "explain Israel's reasons and its right to make this war". Pacifici explains that the Roman Jewish community did not spend "even one Euro" for the medicine, which was donated by "an international Jewish organization" and guarantees that "in any case not one piece of medicine will get to Gaza unless it has been authorized by the Government of Israel".

Link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-01/05/content_10607671.htm

[Video is from a previous Israeli atrocity] At least 24 Palestinians have been killed in a fresh series of Israeli tank shelling in the Gaza Strip since early Monday morning, medical sources said. Haytha Dababish, a doctor working with Shifa hospital in Gaza, said most of the casualties are civilians, including women and children. He said the deaths include 13 from a family in Zaytoun neighborhood, a densely populated area in eastern Gaza City, when Israeli tanks bombarded their house. Seven others from another family were killed in a refugee camp in western Gaza, he said, adding four others were killed by tank shelling in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza Strip. Since the launch of Israeli Cast Lead Operation in the besieged Gaza Strip on Dec. 27, 531 people in the enclave have been killed and more than 2,500 others injured, according to Dababish. Meanwhile, the Qassam Brigade of Hamas said in a leaflet that its militants are confronting Israeli tanks by bombs and rocket propelled grenade. The movement also claimed responsibility for rockets firing to southern Israel on Monday morning. Israeli troops entered the Gaza Strip on Saturday evening, launching ground invasion against the coastal enclave following eight days of intensive air strikes, targeting buildings including mosques, houses and Hamas security installations.

Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=80656&sectionid=351020202

The Israeli military incursion into Gaza has reportedly forced thousands of children to flee their homes in the impoverished region. Save the Children said in its latest report that Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, which has killed at least 520 Gazans and wounded 2,500 more, has compelled more that 13,000 Palestinian civilians, mostly children, to leave their homes.

"Gaza, with a population of 1.51 million, is one of the most densely populated strips of land in the world and many hundreds of homes are being hit by the airstrikes, causing fear and anxiety amongst the thousands of civilians caught in the crossfire," said the group's spokesman, Dominic Nutt. In a recent development, an Israeli tank shell killed four children in their home in eastern Gaza City, medical officials have confirmed.

Link: http://futurenewstoday.blogspot.com/2009/01/israeligirl-violates-digg-tos.html

I was recently banned from Digg. Again. This time according to the email it is permanent. Here is their email informing me of their decision.

Link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iZCONo8ygEjHolVWwW7wN50I0suQ

Israeli troops and Hamas fighters battled in Gaza on Monday amid tank, artillery and air strikes, as Israel pressed on with its assault on Hamas and world leaders stepped up efforts to end the conflict. French President Nicolas Sarkozy was due to arrive in Israel for talks on how to end one of its deadliest offensives in Gaza in decades, which has killed more than 515 Palestinians, dozens of them children. Israeli infantry units backed by tanks and helicopters took up positions around Gaza City after effectively cutting the coastal strip into two by taking control of the main roads leading into the capital, witnesses said. The troops exchanged fire with Hamas militants, fighting against the deepest Israeli thrust into Gaza since it unilaterally withdrew from the coastal territory more than three years ago. Israel's daily incursions prove that the (deleted) statement about having withdrawn is a blatant lie. Al Jazeera: Civilian deaths mount in Gaza war.

Link: http://www.dailytech.com/Sea+Ice+Ends+Year+at+Same+Level+as+1979/article13834.htm

Rapid growth spurt leaves amount of ice at levels seen 29 years ago. Thanks to a rapid rebound in recent months, global sea ice levels now equal those seen 29 years ago, when the year 1979 also drew to a close. Ice levels had been tracking lower throughout much of 2008, but rapidly recovered in the last quarter. In fact, the rate of increase from September onward is the fastest rate of change on record, either upwards or downwards. The data is being reported by the University of Illinois's Arctic Climate Research Center, and is derived from satellite observations of the Northern and Southern hemisphere polar regions.

Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7811088.stm

The new US embassy in Baghdad is due to be officially opened, with a dedication service led by Ambassador Ryan Crocker. Security will be tight at the ceremony in the Iraqi capital for one of the biggest and most expensive embassies the US has ever built. On 1 January, the US officially handed over responsibility for security in the fortified Green Zone to Iraqi forces.

Link: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=090103214058.23r7czam&show_article=1

As the clock ticks down to Barack Obama's inauguration, the US president-elect has kept silent on the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its latest deadly turn in the Gaza Strip. Obama transition officials have ventured little more than saying their boss is "monitoring" the situation in Gaza, where at least 460 people have been killed in eight days of air raids before a ground offensive began Saturday. In the same period, Gaza militant rockets have killed four Israelis and wounded several dozen people.