U.S. peace envoy rolls up his sleeves in Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Richard Boudreaux - January 29, 2009 - 1:00am George J. Mitchell, the new U.S. envoy to the Middle East, arrived in Israel on Wednesday to begin testing his axiom that there's no such thing as a conflict that cannot be ended. Yet even as Israeli and Palestinian leaders offered ideas on how the Obama administration can help bring about peace, the prevailing mood on both sides was that their decades-old fight had become almost hopelessly deadlocked. » Read more

Gaza Violence Complicates Mitchell Mission ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - January 29, 2009 - 1:00am A day after President Obama’s special Middle East envoy called for a consolidation of the fragile Gaza cease-fire, the truce came under new strain on Thursday when the Israeli military said Palestinians fired a rocket into Israel at dawn and Israel launched an air attack into southern Gaza. » Read more