November 14th

European watchdog 'concerned' by PA pressure on journalists ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency November 14, 2012 - 1:00am RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- A European press freedom group said Monday it was concerned about the Palestinian Authority's steps to put pressure on a columnist who criticized President Mahmoud Abbas' office. The Vienna-based International Press Institute said it was joining Palestinian journalists who have raised concerns about the PA's treatment of Jihad Harb after he questioned hiring practices at Abbas' office. » Read more

Palestinian Authority unable to pay salaries, even as it pursues statehood ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Christian Science Monitor by Ben Lynfield - November 13, 2012 - 1:00am Doha, West Bank » Read more

Jerusalem to evacuate 120 Bedouins for building waste landfill ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua November 13, 2012 - 1:00am JERUSALEM, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Jerusalem municipality initially approved a plan to evacuate 120 Bedouins from their east Jerusalem village in order to build a waste landfill. The landfill is set to be stretched over a valley between the city and the settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim over 120 acres. The objectors charge the real aim of the plan is to create a continual territorial land stretch between east Jerusalem and the West Bank settlements. » Read more

Iran plans to launch new homemade satellite in 3 months ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua November 14, 2012 - 1:00am TEHRAN, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- President of Iran's Amirkabir University of Technology Alireza Rahaei announced on Wednesday the country is preparing to launch a new homemade satellite, called Nahid (Venus), into orbit in the next three months, semi-official Fars news agency reported. » Read more

Israel, Palestinians put lid on Gaza, for now ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alertnet November 13, 2012 - 1:00am TEL AVIV/GAZA, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Israel and the Palestinians stepped back from the brink of a new war in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, sending signals to each other via Egypt that they would hold their fire unless attacked, after five days of mounting violence. » Read more

Egypt's Brotherhood slams Israel over Gaza strikes ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Aya Batrawy - November 13, 2012 - 1:00am CAIRO — Egypt's powerful Muslim Brotherhood sharply criticized Israeli leaders on Tuesday over airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, accusing them of heating up the conflict to score political points ahead of elections. » Read more

Israel prepares new missile defense system ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Lauren E. Bohn - November 13, 2012 - 1:00am CARMIEL, Israel — Israel's newest missile defense system, designed to provide another layer of protection against enemy fire, is on schedule for deployment in 2014, defense officials said Tuesday. » Read more

‘Absolutely no way’ Arafat was poisoned, says top doctor who teaches at Paris hospital where Palestinian leader died ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times of Israel by Anica Pommeray - November 13, 2012 - 1:00am PARIS — A leading French doctor who teaches at the Paris hospital where Yasser Arafat died in 2004 has broken the official French medical silence surrounding the case to tell The Times of Israel, based on Arafat’s medical report, that there is “absolutely no way” the Palestinian leader was poisoned. » Read more

Palestinians Prepare to Exhume Arafat to Check for Poison ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - November 13, 2012 - 1:00am JERUSALEM — The West Bank tomb of Yasir Arafat has been cordoned off and screened from public view ahead of an expected exhumation, a Palestinian Authority official said Tuesday, four months after a television investigation raised new suspicions that the Palestinian leader had been poisoned. » Read more

Four rockets fired from direction of Sinai strike southern Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Gili Cohen, Yanir Yagna - November 14, 2012 - 1:00am Four rockets were fired on Wednesday from the direction of the Sinai Peninsula toward an Israeli community on the border with Egypt. One of the rockets exploded in a moshav in the Eshkol Regional Council. The other three landed in the moshav's citron field. » Read more