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By Clayton Swisher in Americas, Middle East on July 4th, 2010
AFP photo

It's not clear what miracles Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel can work for General Petraeus now that he's the top officer in Kabul. 

Based on these emails Petraeus apparently authored, subsequently leaked to blogger Philip Weiss, it seems the former Central Commander thought a private dinner with Weisel and a Holocaust Museum stint might boost his pro-Israel bonafides ("some of my best friends are Jewish!").
 
Lucky for Petraeus that Weisel could fit him in.
President Obama summoned him for
By Teresa Bo in Americas on July 3rd, 2010
AFP photo

Buenos Aires is in mourning. People are crying on the streets, sad faces almost everywhere. Argentina lost against  an extraordinary team.

This country fell in love with the team that Maradona put in place: Messi, Tevez et al. People felt the players close to them. They felt their agonies and celebrated their goals.

Argentinians liked  Maradona's attitude. He was reserved, calm and, in many ways, a side of Maradona that we had never seen before.

Maradona - the man who kissed the players after each game, who gave everyone an opportunity, that motivated them, that cheered for them.

And that's the feeling on Argentina's streets - people are sad but proud.

We will have to see what happens to Maradona now, whether he will remain as the coach or he will go. Even though the international media is already talking about his downfall.

We Argentinians say, thank you, Diego. We saw a beautiful team play.

By Nicole Johnston in Middle East on July 3rd, 2010
Al Jazeera photo

First close down the borders and refuse to allow any exports out.

Then ban the importing of any raw material for factories and businesses.

Force the commercial class to rely on expensive underground smuggling tunnels to procure what the community needs. This in turn enriches the tunnel owners.

Prevent businesspeople from travelling abroad.

And then, if the economy still has a breath of life left in it, go to war. Bomb the region and destroy its factories.

Finally refuse to allow any building material in so that those businesses cannot be rebuilt.

De-development

The result is the economy goes backwards in a process called de-development.

Businesses close, jobs are lost and families become dependent on food aid.

This is what has happened in Gaza.

It is suffering from a four year old siege, the destruction from Israel's war and now a continued siege, with no sign of any real abatement.

By John Terrett in Americas on July 3rd, 2010
AFP photo

In the United States it's the Fourth of July national holiday, commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence - America's birthday in other words!
 
Motoring organisations estimate 35 million Americans will travel this weekend - seventeen per cent up on last year and that's just people on the roads.
 
Many families will barbecue, watch a parade or go to a traditional 4th of July fireworks display.
 
In the Gulf of Mexico it is a most unusual holiday with oil still gushing and the clean-up operation only just restarting after the first hurricane of the season.
 
Little to celebrate

By Paul Rhys in Africa on July 3rd, 2010
Picture by GALLO/GETTY

A lot is being said today about Luis Suarez's deliberate handball that denied Ghana a winning goal in the last seconds of their World Cup quarter-final last night.

Two camps have emerged – Uruguayans who consider Suarez a hero and those who, to quote one article, "see the handball as cheating".

Let's not muddy the waters here. It WAS cheating. There can be no argument on that score.

But the response is, overall, forgiving.  My own feelings veer that way. But why?

Twenty four years and 11 days ago, in the World Cup quarter-finals in Mexico, Diego Maradona jumped for a high ball with England goalkeeper Peter Shilton and deliberately punched it into the net for a goal.

Today he takes charge of Argentina in a quarter-final against Germany and his outlook hasn't changed – he would punch the ball into the net from the bench if he could.