IAEA - 'israeli nukes not our problem' - http://www.wakeupfromyourslumber.com/node/242 - Why inspect nukes that exist when you can continue looking for ones that don't?

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas was stranded for hours at Egypt's border with the Gaza Strip on Thursday after Israel prevented him from entering with 35 millions  dollars in aid, setting off gun battles at the border crossing between Hamas fighters and guards loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas.

Haniyeh later crossed into the Gaza Strip without the money amid continued shooting, as Hamas gunmen rampaged through the border terminal at Rafah, destroying computers, surveillance cameras and furniture, witnesses said.

One of Haniyeh's bodyguards was killed, , and more than two dozen people, including his son, were wounded in the fighting .

The mayhem was the latest outburst of violence between Hamas and Abbas' Fatah movement since the collapse of talks to form a national unity government and threats by Abbas to call new elections, and it raised fresh concerns about a slide toward civil war.

Hamas gunmen, angered by the news that Haniyeh's entry was being blocked, stormed the terminal chanting "God is Great, and a gunfight erupted with members of Abbas' Presidential Guard, who are responsible for securing the crossing. Travelers ran for cover with their luggage, and women and children hid behind walls and taxis, according to reports from the scene.The Presidential Guard later regained control of the terminal,but a short time later the  Hamas gunmen surged back into the terminal and shooting resumed.******

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The Israeli Supreme Court on Thursday upheld Israel's policy of targeted killings of Palestinian militants, allowing the army to maintain a practice that has drawn widespread international condemnation.

The unanimous ruling from a three-judge panel fixed some legal limits, but it did not insist on prior court approval for the attacks, leaving the limits only theoretical and endorsing the killings in practice.

Israel has defended the practice as necessary to prevent terror attacks, including suicide bombings. But the original justification of stopping "ticking bombs" has been expanded over the years to targeting militant leaders, including field commanders and the founder of Hamas.

Palestinians and human rights groups, who have denounced the killings as assassinations and summary executions without trial, criticized the court for giving legal legitimacy to the practice.http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/12/14/international/i104940S45.DTL

***Tony Blair today admitted that he had urged the Attorney-General to drop a sleaze inquiry against the Saudi Government because a prosecution would have done "immense damage" to Britain. The Prime Minister said that he took full responsibility for the decision to drop the Serious Fraud Office inquiry into bribery allegations involving arms manufacturer BAE Systems.

Abandoning the inquiry is expected to save a multi-billion pound jet fighter contract but Mr Blair insisted that his main concern was not to jeopardise anti-terror co-operation form Riyadh.

His spokesman said that the Saudis gave valuable information on al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden and most of the 9/11 terrorists come from SAudi  Arabia country.

***US defends its opposition to ban on weapons in space - http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061213/pl_afp/usspacedefenseattacks_061213224420 - The United States defended its opposition to a new ban on weapons in space, saying it needed to keep its options open amid threats from nations seeking ways to attack US space systems.

Blair bows to pressure to hold Iraq debate in parliament - LINK - Prime Minister Tony Blair's government will hold a parliamentary debate on Britain's role in Iraq by the end of January, a cabinet member has said amid mounting pressure from war critics.

Quebec party seeks to topple Canada's Conservatives - http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/12/14/canada.bloc.reut/index.html?eref=rss_latest - It said the Bloc, which seeks independence for the French-speaking province of Quebec, would introduce a no-confidence motion in Parliament over the government's handling of its mission in Afghanistan, where more than 40 Canadian troops have died so far.

Scandal rocks Colombia's leadership - http://www.boston.com/news/world/latinamerica/articles/2006/12/14/scandal_rocks_colombias_leadership/ - The Colombian government, the recipient of billions of dollars in US aid to fight drugs and a leftist insurgency, is under siege as evidence mounts of links between right-wing death squads and dozens of officials loyal to President Álvaro Uribe.

Iraqi doctors and medical staff are outraged over yet another U.S. military raid at Fallujah General Hospital.

The raid followed a roadside bombing Dec. 7 in which four Iraqi policemen were killed and two injured. The injured were taken to Fallujah General Hospital.

Shortly after this attack, a U.S. Marine who was on a patrol in the city was wounded by a gunshot.

"U.S. soldiers replied to the source of fire then headed straight to the general hospital across the [Euphrates] river hoping that they had shot and injured the sniper," an eyewitness told IPS.

"American soldiers seem to have some imagination to think wounded fighters might go to that so-called hospital," a retired surgeon told IPS. "We know that they do not trust that place because of the continuous raids by the U.S. and [the] lack of everything in that hospital." The hospital is functioning at minimal capacity due to lack of medicines and equipment, the surgeon said.