In his small grocery store just off Sultan Suleiman Street, which runs past the Old City's Damascus Gate and through the Arab side of downtown Jerusalem, a Palestinian merchant grumbles about the hardships and indignities under Israeli rule. His complaints are long-standing among Palestinians here, yet the reality for him and others is shifting in response to the violence and economic hopelessness of Palestinian Authority rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. "There is no safety there," he says.
Most wars begin raggedly," the great historian A.J.P. Taylor once observed. And the Six-Day War of 1967, which would recast the Middle Eastern world into what we know today, was true to Taylor's dictum.
AP - Sharp differences between the United States and Russia over President Bush's plan to build a missile defense system on Moscow's doorstep are likely to dominate talk during Bush's European tour.
AP - Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that Moscow could take "retaliatory steps" if Washington proceeds with plans to build a missile defense system for Europe, including possibly aiming nuclear weapons at targets on the continent.
AP - An Islamic militant Web site said Monday it would soon release video clips showing the capture of three American soldiers who disappeared following an ambush in Iraq in mid-May.
Eight presidential candidates fought to make their points during a two-hour debate in New Hampshire Sunday. Former Sen. John Edwards blasted Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama over their handling of a recent war spending bill. Clinton answered the charge and added, "The differences between us are minor. The differences between us and the Republicans are major."
For most of last night's debate on CNN, the Democratic presidential candidates did what you would expect: They argued with one another and tried to separate themselves from their opponents on issues ranging from Iraq to health care to gay marriage.
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