Middle East Summit: A Recipe For Failure? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Herald Tribune by Daniel Kurtzer - (Opinion) October 9, 2007 - 2:14pm As diplomats scramble to piece together the parts of the Middle East peace meeting that the United States is determined to convene in November, one crucial question is getting too little attention: How will success be measured? » Read more

As Mideast Realigns, Us Leans Sunni ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Howard Lafranchi - October 9, 2007 - 2:04pm Americans are hearing much less from the Bush administration about democracy for the Middle East than they did a year ago. As Shiite Iran rises, the White House has muted its calls for reform in the region as it redirects policy to reembrace Sunni Arab allies – who run, to varying degrees, authoritarian regimes. The invasion of Iraq in 2003 shifted the balance of power in the Middle East, delivering a Shiite-led government to a country that had for decades been dominated by its minority Sunnis. That, in turn, opened the door to Iranian expansion. » Read more

Christian Activist Killed In Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Ibrahim Barzak - October 9, 2007 - 1:40pm A prominent Palestinian Christian activist was found dead on a Gaza City street Sunday, sending a shudder of fear through a tiny Christian community feeling increasingly insecure since the Islamic Hamas seized control last summer. The body of Rami Khader Ayyad, the 32-year-old director of Gaza's only Christian bookstore, bore a visible gunshot wound to the head, and an official at Gaza's Shifa Hospital said he was also stabbed numerous times. Ayyad had been missing since Saturday afternoon. » Read more

As Farmers And Fields Rest, A Land Grows Restless ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Steven Erlanger - October 9, 2007 - 1:37pm As Israel’s Jews start a new year, the country finds itself in the middle of a fierce religious dispute about the sanctity of fruits and vegetables. In the southern Israeli town of Kiryat Malahi, a man held a scroll of the Torah, which mandates shmita, a kind of sabbatical for the land which occurs every seven years. Rabbis are pitted against one another, the state and the religious authorities are in conflict, the Israeli Supreme Court is involved, the devout are confused and the cost of produce is rising. » Read more