IPS correspondents bring you independent perspectives on what is happening in Iran, Iraq and across the Middle East.

MIDEAST: Olmert’s Peace Plan May Go Down With Him
Analysis by Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler
JERUSALEM (IPS) – The State of Israel against the former leader of the State of Israel – for the first time, a former prime minister will soon be in the defendant’s chair in a criminal court.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48275

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Q&A: Economic Empowerment Gives Women Choices
Cam McGrath interviews AMANY ASFOUR, the Egyptian Business Women Association
CAIRO (IPS) – In Egypt, women have not achieved the same career levels as their male counterparts. Women are chiefly employed as civil servants, in small family businesses or as manual labour in the agricultural sector.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48271

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MIDEAST: Can Final Peace Deal Overcome Settlements Roadblock?
Analysis by Helena Cobban*
WASHINGTON (IPS) – The Barack Obama administration – perhaps the president himself – will reportedly be launching a new round of authoritative Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations sometime during the upcoming U.N. General Assembly session, which is scheduled to start in New York on Sep. 15.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48253

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MIDEAST: East Jerusalem Shuts Out Thousands of Prayers
By Mel Frykberg
QALANDIA, West Bank (IPS) – The future of East Jerusalem and of Palestinian access to it has again been brought under the spotlight. Thousands of Palestinians were turned away at West Bank checkpoints leading into Jerusalem by Israeli security forces as they tried to attend Friday Ramadan prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48274

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MIDEAST: In a Rotten State
By Eva Bartlett
GAZA CITY (IPS) – Abu Abed can’t make a profit, and although 54 years old, he still has not married. “I can’t pay my rent, I can’t afford a wedding.” His shop, roughly 3m by 4m, costs him more than 3,500 dollars a year in rent alone.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48264

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MIDEAST: ‘United’ Jerusalem Has Two Faces
By Mel Frykberg
EAST JERUSALEM (IPS) – Israel says “united” Jerusalem will be the eternal capital of the Jewish state. However, a quick walk across the Green Line which marks the international border dividing the two parts of the city reveals a city very much divided.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48247

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MIDEAST: Obama Steers the Peace Train On
Analysis by Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler
JERUSALEM (IPS) – It isn’t formal yet, but it’s bound to be soon – within the coming six weeks, Palestinians and Israelis will again be sitting down around the peace table.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48238

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KYRGYZSTAN: A New Great Game Begins
By Zoltán Dujisin
BISHKEK (IPS) – A U.S. base located just 40km from a Russian base – it can happen in Kyrgyzstan, a new focal point in the great geopolitics of Central Asia where China and Turkey are beginning to show their cards as well.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48294

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Only about 22 percent of the voices you hear and read in the news are women?s. You can change your perspective – Read the new IPS Gender Wire.
ipsnews.net/_newsletter/genderwire.asp

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DON’T MISS IPS EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE OF THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION.

U.S. President Barack Obama has inherited wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a tanking economy, and global crises like climate change. IPS reports on the implications of the new administration not just for U.S. citizens, but for the world.
www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/us_elections2008/index.asp

For more IPS reporting on the Middle East – www.ipsnews.net/middle.asp

Iraq: Beyond the Green Zone – www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/iraq/

Iran: The Parthian Shot – www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/iran/

Holy Land/Unholy War – www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/israel_palestina/

Afghan Divide – www.ipsnews.net/afghanistan/

Bush?s Legacy – www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/warII/

IPS coverage of terrorism – www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/terrorism/

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