Ariel Sharon has reaffirmed that Israel plans to hold onto the most populous settlement blocs in the West Bank under any final agreement with Palestinians.In his first declaration on the shape of any "final status" deal since Mahmoud Abbas took office as Palestinian leader, the Israeli Prime Minister made it clear he was holding President Bush to the concessions he secured from him last April. Those would include the redrawing of the 1967 borders to include the biggest settlement blocs -Independent UK

The latest chapter in the legal history of torture is being written by American pilots who were beaten and abused by Iraqis during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.And it has taken a strange twist.The Bush administration is fighting the former prisoners of war in court, trying to prevent them from collecting nearly $1 billion from Iraq that a federal judge awarded them as compensation for their torture at the hands of Saddam Hussein's regime

A big Republican donor goes to his governor and senator, saying he was told by President Bush's chief fund-raiser he'd be getting a plum ambassadorial appointment but it wasn't delivered.The senator takes his case right to the top of the White House.Nothing happens for two years.The donor then helps stage a fund-raiser for Bush.A week later, the donor lands an appointment as the chairman of the federal board overseeing billions of dollars of student loans

The scandal surrounding the UN's oil-for-food programme took a new and dramatic turn for the worse last night after a US Senate investigation accused its head of committing criminal acts by accepting oil contracts from Iraq, and demanded the lifting of his diplomatic immunity -Telegraph UK

The government may be spending too much time and money seizing knives and other potentially dangerous items from airline passengers and too little on preventing terrorist attacks against other forms of transportation, lawmakers said Tuesday.The committee also signaled that the proposed increase in the airline passenger security tax -- from $2.50 per leg of a flight to $5.50 -- will have tough sledding in Congress

There are new allegations that heavily armed private security contractors in Iraq are brutalizing Iraqi civilians.In an exclusive interview, four former security contractors told NBC News that they watched as innocent Iraqi civilians were fired upon, and one crushed by a truck.The contractors worked for an American company paid by U.S. taxpayers.The Army is looking into the allegations -MSNBC

Liz Cheney has been named principal deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs and coordinator for Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiatives, according to a statement February 14 from State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher.Ms. Cheney served previously as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs from 2002 to 2003 -State Dept.

Ibrahim Al-Jaafari, a physician who lived in London and is a leading figure in a Shiite party that fought Saddam Hussein, has emerged as the top contender for the prime minister’s job after his main rival dropped out.Al-Jaafari is the leader of the Dawa Party, one of the Shiite parties that formed the United Iraqi Alliance -Arab News SA

Federal judge Michael Chertoff, who testified against torture and preached the need to protect civil liberties, won unanimous Senate confirmation on Tuesday to head the U.S. Homeland Security Department.On a 98-0 vote, the Senate approved President Bush's nomination of the former U.S. assistant attorney general to succeed Tom Ridge as secretary of the department created after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks

For Roh to realize his wish to meet with Kim Jong-il, he needs to find some good reasons and justifications for such a summit. Otherwise, meeting with a man perceived by most of the world as a tyrant - and one who has admitted possessing nuclear weapons to boot - would only backfire and undermine Roh's already low public support, which currently stands in the low-20% range -Jaewoo Choo/Asia Times

The assassination on Monday of former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri, who opposed the Syrian military occupation of Lebanon, places the spotlight firmly on Syria, a safe haven fo Palestinian militant organizations.Now, the high-profile killing of Hariri, right after the conclusion of the Iraqi elections, could be the spark to set off latent conflicts in the region -Syed Saleem Shahzad/Asia Times

A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld a ruling against two reporters who could go to jail for refusing to divulge their sources about the leak of an undercover CIA officer's name.