AP Photo/Manuel M. Chavez

In the autumn of 2009, American and Israeli leaders agreed that they should keep secret the delivery of bombs that can destroy Iranian nuclear facilities.

In November 2009, a high-level group of Americans and Israelis met in Tel Aviv. On the agenda was the political and military situation in the Middle East. Concern about Iran's nuclear program dominated both the American and Israeli delegation, according to a document that Aftenposten has accessed via Wikileaks.

The document states that the Israeli government considers 2010 a critical year, provided that the Iranians continued to increase the defense of the nuclear facilities. -Both sides then discussed the upcoming delivery of GBU-28 "bunker-busters" to Israel. A point was made that deliveries should take place in secret so that allegations that the U.S. government was helping Israel to prepare for an attack on Iran, "could be avoided, according to the document.

GBU-28 is a powerful bomb that was developed before the Iraq war in 1991. At that time, the Americans wanted to have a bomb that could penetrate Iraqi command centers that were subsurface or and / or protected by reinforced concrete. The bomb weighs 5,000 pounds, which is approximately 2260 kg, and is laser guided. From the discussion in the leaked document from the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, it seems that the Israelis have obtained the bombs, by all accounts 100 units, with the purpose of destroying the Iranian nuclear program, if it should be considered necessary.

Apart from this section of one of the leaked Wikileaks documents, the Americans and Israelis expressed surprisingly little acute anxiety for the Iranian nuclear program. However, The Israelis again and again make the point that an Iranian nuclear bomb would be disastrous for peace efforts in the Middle East. In autumn 2009, it is nevertheless clear that both Israelis that Americans believe that they still have time before an Iranian nuclear bomb is a fact. The Israelis therefore want Americans to continue their efforts to deter the Iranians through sanctions. Getting Russia and China on board is considered imperative.

Newsvine: At last: The Tel Aviv WikiLeaks Cables

The Israeli army believes that the country will only have 10 to 12 minutes warning of an Iranian rocket attack. A wide-spread war in the Middle East will then be a reality, according to Wikileaks documents. On the 15. November 2009, an American congressional delegation led by the democrat Ike Skelton had a meeting with the Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi. During the meeting, the Israeli top general stated that Iran has 300 Shihab rockets that can reach Israel. The time available for warning an Iranian attack will not be more than 10-12 minutes.

The rocket threat against Israel is more serious than ever before. This is why Israel is giving such a strong priority to a missile shield, [Ashkenazi said according to a secret document sent from the American Embassy in Tel Aviv.]

The documents from the meeting between Ashkenazi and Skelton, together with a considerable number of documents from the same period that Aftenposten has gotten access to, send a clear message: The Israeli defense forces are working hard at preparing for a new war in the Middle East. The message to the US representatives is that even if Iran is considered to be serious, the threat from Islamic groups supported by Iran is more pressing, especially with regard to Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Rockets sent from these sources are expected to have much higher precision than the Iranian ballistic missiles, according to the documents. [Aftenposten: Israel forbereder seg på en ny storkrig (Israel prepares for a new major war)]

Haaretz: WikiLeaks quotes IDF chief: Iran could hit Israel within 12 minutes
Newsvine: At last: The Tel Aviv WikiLeaks Cables

Naryamaswamy Naik went to the cupboard and took out a tin of pesticide. Then he stood before his wife and children and drank it. "I don't know how much he had borrowed. I asked him, but he wouldn't say," Sugali Nagamma said, her tiny grandson playing at her feet. "I'd tell him: don't worry, we can sell the salt from our table."

Ms Nagamma, 41, showed us a picture of her husband – good-looking with an Elvis-style hairdo – on the day they married a quarter of a century ago. "He'd been unhappy for a month, but that day he was in a heavy depression. I tried to take the tin away from him but I couldn't. He died in front of us. The head of the family died in front of his wife and children – can you imagine?"

No translation needed. (The We!)

The death toll in a series of US drone attacks has risen to 20 in the troubled northwestern Pakistan, officials say.

Local security officials say at least four people were killed in the latest strike that targeted a vehicle in North Waziristan tribal region on Saturday. Earlier, 15 people had lost their lives after two drones fired four missiles at two vehicles and a house in the same region. One of the injured later died in hospital. The death toll is expected to rise as some of the injured are said to be in critical condition. On Friday, a similar strike claimed at least eight lives in the same volatile region.

The unsanctioned US airstrikes in Pakistan, which have increased since President Barack Obama took office in 2009, have claimed some 1184 lives in 2010. Washington claims its air raids target militants, but locals say civilians bear the brunt of the attacks as figures show that thousands of civilians have reportedly been killed in about 200 drone raids over the past six years. The United Nations says the US-operated drone strikes in Pakistan pose a growing challenge to the international rule of law.

Britain would back the United Nations using force to remove Laurent Gbagbo from power in the Ivory Coast and had sent a military liaison officer to play a part in coordinating any future operations in the country, William Hague said yesterday. The Foreign Secretary added: "We are a long way here from discussing British forces being deployed." But he said a UN sanctioned armed intervention might be the only realistic option to ensure that Mr Gbagbo steps aside for Alassane Ouattara, who is regarded by the international community as having won recent national elections in the West African state.

Ann Talbot: Les Etats-Unis et l’UE préparent une action militaire contre la Côte d’Ivoire

Russia and China have launched a 3,600-kilometer pipeline to export the oil of the biggest producer in the world to the biggest consumer of the product. The pipeline, linking Siberia to refineries in the northeastern Chinese city of Daqing, started its operation on Saturday. A total of 2,694 kilometers of the pipeline was constructed on the Russian side and some 930 kilometers of it was assembled in China. Under a 2009 deal, China will import about 300,000 barrels or 15 million tons of oil per day through the new pipeline each year until 2030.

US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will use a visit to Israel this week to assess passenger vetting and other counter-terrorism measures at its Ben-Gurion Airport, government officials said on Sunday. Napolitano, whose tenure has been dogged by two attempted al Qaeda attacks on US-bound planes as well as traveller protests at intrusive airport pat-downs and screenings, was due to arrive in Israel by Monday for several low-key professional meetings.

"She'll be consulting with the Airport Authority, among other things," said an official briefed on the visit, which will include other countries.

Security at Ben-Gurion, Israel's main international airport, is considered to be among the most effective in world aviation, though civil liberties groups chafe at what they call a policy of singling out Arab passengers for extra scrutiny.

Palestinians carry the body of Jawaher Abu Rahmah
during her funeral in the West Bank village of Bilin,
near Ramallah January 1, 2011

We were devastated to hear the news of the first martyr in 2011 being none other than Jawaher, the sister of the martyr Bassem Abu Rahma from Bil’in. Jawaher fainted in yesterday’s demonstration but died apparently of this toxic tear gas (a much stronger version with unknown chemicals than used in the West). Here is a video of the demonstration where Jawaher was injured (she was martyred in hospital the next day).

Many writers came up with many ideas about 2010 and even occasionally predictions about 2011. Perhaps the most common theme among rational commentators is that this was the year were truth began to come out in such a large dose that it was hard to sustain mythology and the most common hope for 2011 is to see peace and justice prevail (no more ethnic cleansing, no more killing etc). When we mention truth we are not talking here merely about wikileaks (what is released here still remains the tip of the iceberg). We are talking about a number of studies, reports, slips, and scandals that came out that shook those in power.

Joseph Dana: Protester Killed By Israeli Tear Gas in Bil’in
PressTV: Israeli fighter jets strike Gaza Strip

RAMALLAH, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- Israel should be the first country to recognize an independent Palestinian state and withdraw from the lands it has occupied in 1967, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Sunday.

"If Israel has the least seriousness to make peace, it should be the first country to recognize Palestine as a state... it is clear that Israel has preferred settlement," Erekat said, referring to Israel's decision to resume constructions in Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

Israel opposes decisions recently made by some Latin American countries that recognize the Palestinian state, saying the recognition should follow the negotiated solution with the Palestinians. On Friday, Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas invited Israel to present its vision regarding the future Palestinian state and its proposals for security issues through a third party. However, Israel refused Abbas' suggestion. "This is another proof that Israel is not serious about reaching a peace deal that enables the creation of a Palestinian state," Erekat said.

Foresaking the status of the stalled negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, Brazil recognized the State of Palestine a few weeks ago. Brazil's move, which echoed that of Venezuela's and which was followed by similar moves from Argentina, Bolivia, and Ecuador, was labelled premature by the United States and was met with consternation in Israel. On December 31, as one of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, in one of his last acts as President of Brazil, took the matter a step further by meeting with Mahmoud Abbas, the president of Palestine, and laying down the cornerstone for the future Embassy of Palestine. Abbas also attended the swearing-in ceremony of new Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Saturday. Lula, who angered many earlier this year when he met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to discuss Iran's nuclear program, agreed to recognize Palestine and to lay down the cornerstone of the new embassy in order to demonstrate Brazil's growing international clout and to help Palestine in its efforts to win independence from Israel. Brazil recognized Palestine's pre-1967 borders, an issue that is very contentious for Israel.

Rescue efforts are under way to evacuate more than 600 crew on 10 ships trapped in ice in the Sea of Okhotsk.

The ice is up to 30cm (12 inches) thick in some places, according to the Russian news agency Itar-Tass.

Signals are reported to have been received from a fishing boat and a research vessel which are in the greatest distress, stuck in the ice about 12 miles (19km) from the coast.

The sea rescue centre says three tugboats have been dispatched.

One of the tugboats is expected to reach the edge of the ice on Friday evening, and the others could be there by Sunday. The temperature in the area is -22C, according to Itar-Tass, and forecasts suggest it will fall even lower.

Jailed former Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodor-kovsky has been sentenced to six more years in prison. Khodor-kovsky had his jail term extended until 2017 after being convicted of theft and money-laundering. Following a 20-month trial, the judge convicted Khodorkovsky on charges of stealing the oil that his Yukos company produced from 1998 to 2003 and laundering the proceeds. The judge granted the prosecutors' request and ordered Khodorkovsky, who is in the final year of an eight-year sentence, to serve a total of 14 years in prison, including his current term and now extending from the day of his arrest. This means he faces 6 more years in jail. The Moscow court did not find any grounds for passing a suspended sentence.

Stephen Lendman: Hail to the Thief: The New York Times Defends Mikhail Khodorkovsky

The Guardian's New Year resolutions: "Visa, Mastercard Grow a pair. Stop boycotting WikiLeaks. You're happy to process payments for dubious top-shelf soft porn publishers. So why have you stopped handling donations for Julian Assange's iconoclastic organisation?"

German Interior Minister: "WikiLeaks is irritating and annoying for Germany, but not a threat. . . . One might also ask, however, if a government is acting intelligently when it organizes its entire diplomatic correspondence on a network that can be accessed by 2.5 million people."

Two women row a canoe made of driftwood across a lake, their eyes fixed on a destination in the distance. The woman in the foreground bites her bottom lip with determination. There’s a steeliness in her expression that says she’s done this many times before.

In a series of exceptional photographs, Italian photographer Luca Locatelli spent a month documenting the lives of the Mosuo tribe, often described as one of the last matriarchal societies in the world. Locatelli travelled to Lugu Lake in southwest China, 2,700 metres above sea level, taking two days to reach his destination by road. There, in a valley on the border of the Yunnan and Sichuan provinces, he shadowed a society where women are in charge and where there are no words to express the concepts of “father” or “husband”.

Locatelli describes Lugu Lake as “paradise”. “The water is clear and clean and the surroundings are peaceful and beautiful – it’s perfect,” he says. Known as the “Kingdom of Women” throughout China, 40,000 Mosuo people live in a series of villages around the lake. Women here make most major decisions; they control household finances, have the rightful ownership of land and houses, and full rights to the children born to them – quite radical considering that many parts of China still practise arranged marriages – although political power tends to rest with the men (making the description “matrilineal” more accurate).

But what makes the Mosuo unique is their practice of zuo hun, or “walking marriage”. From the age of 13, after being initiated, females may choose to take lovers from men within the tribe, having as many or as few as they please over their lifetime. Male companions are known as axias and spend their days carrying out jobs such as fishing and animal rearing, and visit the women’s homes at night, often secretly; any resulting children are raised by the woman’s family. The father and all adult men are known as “uncles” – there is no stigma attached to not knowing who a child’s father is.

Time.com: Minority Report
ABC Australia: Mosuo Women - China -Video
The Guardian: In the Kingdom of Women -Photos