foreignaffairs

An epidemiological study, "Cancer, Infant Mortality and Birth Sex-Ratio in Fallujah, Iraq 2005-2009," published in the International Journal of Environmental Studies and Public Health found that the people of Fallujah [in the Anbar province, ...July 30, 2010, 11:18 am

Displaced cargoes from Iran are pressuring gasoline premiums in the Middle East, traders said yesterday. As tougher U.S. and EU sanctions have made it more difficult to supply gasoline to Iran, so far only three cargoes of gasoline have reached ...July 30, 2010, 10:37 am

The six airmen who died in a Sikorsky "Yasour" CH-53 helicopter crash over the Romanian Carpathian Mountains Monday, July 26, were flown home Friday, July 30, for burial with full military honors. debkafile's military sources report: The Israeli Air Force had been drilling high-risk attacks on precipitous cliff caves similar to the mountain tunnels in which Iran has hidden nuclear facilities.This maneuver requires exceptionally skilled pilots.  

In this week's podcast: We ask whether Cameron's trip to India to build business and commerce relationships has been a success; we ask whether Paul Kagame is likely to hold on to his role as president in the upcoming elections in Rwanda; we ask what the sentencing of former Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch means for the people of Cambodia; we look at the disappearing marshlands of Louisiana.

Toview the fullclip, click ...July 29, 2010, 4:51 pm

...July 29, 2010, 5:08 pm

Behind the WikiLeaks disclosures is a US-British battle for control of money, oil and intelligence interests, peaking with the struggle to control the BP oil giant.

A Digest of debkafile Round-the-Clock Exclusives in the Week Ending July 28, 2010

Barack Obama performed a secret Afghanistan policy switch a month before the disclosure of confidential military documents. He has empowered the Saudi-Pakistani lineup to carry through peace talks with Taliban.

Willing to entrust the Saudi king on Afghanistan, Obama also gives him a free hand to cut Iran down, mainly by making Assad irresistible offers for control in Beirut and influence in Baghdad.

Saudi Abdullah undertakes to end the war by restoring Taliban to power in Kabul with the active assistance of Pakistan.

The body of a second kidnapped U.S. soldier was found in Afghanistan's central Logar province on Wednesday, according to an Afghan ...July 29, 2010, 4:27 pm

Speaking after the burial of his son who was murdered by the Taliban, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the Minister for Press and Information in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has vowed to defeat the Taliban and has called upon the Pakistani ...July 29, 2010, 9:35 pm

Following are excerpts from an address delivered by Egyptian cleric Safwat Higazi, which aired on Al-Nas TV on July 11, 2010. To read the full report, click here. ...July 29, 2010, 11:30 am

The Al-Qaeda-backed Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) has released a communiqué claiming responsibility for the July 26 bombing of the offices of Al-Arabiya TV in Baghdad. Al-Arabiya is a Saudi-owned satellite news channel that is despised by Al-Qaeda ...July 29, 2010, 2:30 pm

On July 20, a major international conference on Afghanistan, which was attended by foreign ministers and diplomats from over 70 countries, endorsed Afghan President Hamid Karzai's initiative with regard to the Taliban in Afghanistan. A ...July 29, 2010, 2:39 pm

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced a new program to encourage population growth in Iran and to do away with a long-held family planning policy. He offered to set aside a special account for every newborn child to be used when the ...July 29, 2010, 2:21 pm

Muhammad Al-Suhaili, professor of Shariah at Umm Al-Qura University, Dr. Rajab Bersali, a psychiatrist at Hira Mental Hospital, and Ahmad Al-Shahrani, a spiritual healer, visit 29-year-old Turki at his home in Makkah. (AN photo by Badea Abu ...July 29, 2010, 2:30 pm

A summer camp named for terrorist Dalal Al-Mughrabi got underway this week in Bethlehem. ...July 29, 2010, 1:33 pm

The Japanese supertanker M. STAR was damaged in an attack near the Strait of Hormuz Wednesday, July 28. One lifeboat was blown off the ship and a large dent made in its hull. debkafile: Most unusually, US Navy and Iranian officials agreed that the the damage to the tanker, the first attacked in the strategic straits, was caused by an explosion by an unknown hand and must be contained before it gets out of control.