Some Iraqi tribal elders in al Anbar are claiming this morning that the Emir of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Ayoub al-Masri, has been killed. I will believe it when I see it in living color, or when the U.S military confirms it. Hold that reward money for now!

Looks like the days of Israeli PM Ehud Olmert are numbered in view of the Winograd Report on the Lebanon War last summer. Now, if he were the PM of an Arab country he could simply declare a 'state of emergency' and get off the hook easily. He could even postpone any further elections until after his death.
See? It pays to convert if you are a leader.

In Yemen, a mini-civil war has been raging for months now, with thousands reported killed. Now President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh has hit on a possible source for this war: he has accused Libya and Iran of supporting and arming the Houthi 'rebels'. That should, incidentally, make the Saudis happy, since their two major foes are being implicated in a disturbance.....but I am sure it is just a coincidence. President Saleh has not implicated Syria and North Korea, not yet, but things could get worse.

A Sudanese appeals court has reversed the execution by stoning of two women convicted of adultery. The women will be retried. Another court also reversed the sentence of a man whose hand was about to be cut off for stealing- just seconds before he lost his hand. Imagine all those handless leaders and potentates we'd have if that Shari'a law was applied to everyone, not just to the powerless.
Since it normally takes two to commit adultery: what happened to the two men involved in the above case? It looks from recent experiences in Sudan, Nigeria, UAE, and especially the repeat offender Pakistan, that they get away free, and only the women get punished and thus get the proverbial shaft as well.
Cheers
Mohammed