Following their testing time on the reailty show “I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here”, Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt were able to fit in some five star luxury at the Four Seasons resort in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. The day before returning to Los Angeles (June 12), the “Hills” co-star couple strolled along the sand, with Heidi stopping to pick up some sea shells on the shoreline.
"There is nudity. It's tasteful - she had a lot of fun with it," a source told People, who also reported the news.
AccessHollywood.com first reported news of Heidi's plan to pose for Playboy in May. However, when contacted by Access, a spokesperson for Playboy said they had no comment on reports of a spread from "The Hills" star.
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - A new incarnation of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" could be coming to the big screen, courtesy of the director of the original movie."Buffy" creator Joss Whedon isn't involved and it's not set up at a studio, but director Fran Rubel Kuzui is working on a relaunch with Vertigo Entertainment, which specializes in English-language remakes of Asian films, such as "The Grudge" and "The Departed."
While Whedon is the person most associated with the "Buffy" franchise, Kuzui and her Kuzui Enterprises have held onto the rights since the beginning, when she discovered the "Buffy" script from then-unknown Whedon. She developed the script while her husband Kaz put together the financing to make the 1992 movie, which was released by Fox.
Kuzui later helped bring back Whedon to make the TV series, which began its successful run on the WB in 1997. She received executive producer credits on "Buffy" and its spinoff, "Angel."
The new "Buffy" film, however, would have no connection to the TV series, nor would it use popular supporting characters like Angel, Willow, Xander or Spike. Kuzui and Vertigo are looking to restart the story line without trampling on the beloved existing universe created by Whedon.
One of the underlying ideas of "Buffy" allows the filmmakers to do just that: that each generation has its own vampire slayer to protect it. The goal would be to make a darker, event-sized movie that would, of course, have franchise potential.
The parties are meeting with writers and hearing takes, and later will look for a home for the project. The producers do not rule out Whedon's involvement but have not yet reached out to him. Speaking from Tokyo, Fran Kuzui said she is constantly approached not only about sequels but theater, video games and foreign remakes for "Buffy." When Vertigo's Roy Lee contacted them, they were intrigued.
"It was Roy's interest in taking Buffy into a new place that grabbed us," she said. "It was based on our respect for what he does, and his particular sensitivity to Asian filmmakers, that we wanted to work with him."
Kuzui, who is preparing to direct a movie in Japan in the fall, added: "Everything has its moment. Every movie takes on a life at some point, and this seems like the moment to do this."
(Editing by Dean Goodman)
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The Israeli military has bombed several targets in the Gaza Strip hours after the prime minister vowed a "disproportionate response" to fresh rocket fire from the Palestinian territory. Palestinian witnesses reported huge explosions on Sunday and the Israeli military confirmed strikes on half a dozen locations, including an abandoned police station in northern Gaza and suspected smuggling tunnels in the south near the Egypt-Gaza border. The military said Sunday's strikes were the beginning of a new wave of raids over Gaza, but did not elaborate, Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid reported from Gaza City. The attacks followed a threat by Ehud Olmert, Israel's out-going prime minister, to respond in a "severe and disproportionate" fashion after at least 10 rockets and mortar shells hit southern Israel on Sunday. "We've said that if there is rocket fire against the south of the country, there will be a severe and disproportionate Israeli response to the fire on the citizens of Israel and its security forces," Olmert said on Sunday at a weekly cabinet meeting. Rocket fire One of the mortars that hit the village of Nahal Oz, next to the Gaza border fence, wounded two Israeli soldiers and a civilian, the Israeli military and rescue services said. No casualties have been reported from the Israeli strikes on Gaza, which come days before Israeli voters head to the polls to elect a new prime minister. The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of the Fatah faction led by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, told Al Jazeera that it carried out the attacks. The Hamas faction seized control of the Gaza Strip from Fatah forces in June 2007, but several rival Palestinian groups, including the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, continue to operate in Gaza. Israel, however, holds Hamas responsible for all rocket fire coming from Gaza. Israel and a Hamas-led group of Palestinian factions declared separate ceasefires last month after a 22-day Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip that killed at least 1,300 Palestinians, many of them women and children. Thirteen Israelis were also killed, three of them civilians, by Palestinian rockets and mortars.
But there has been sporadic rocket fire across the border and a number of Israeli air raids since the ceasefires were announced. Olmert said at the cabinet meeting: "The situation ... in recent days has increased in a manner that does not allow Israel not to retaliate in order to make sure that our position ... is understood by those involved in the fire. "The response will come at the time, the place and the manner that we choose." Looming elections Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister and one of the candidates to replace Olmert after parliamentary elections on February 10, also used the cabinet meeting to threaten further action against Hamas. Livni, who heads Olmert's Kadima party, said that Israel must respond to rocket attacks "immediately". "We mustn't sign arrangements with Hamas, but rather use force against this organisation," she said. "Israel will respond whether the Qassam [rocket] causes injuries or not, and this is how I will act as prime minister as well. We must use force and a lot of force." Gideon Levy, a journalist and political analyst for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, told Al Jazeera that the attack was directly linked to the elections. "There is a domestic struggle between candidates and who will be more extreme and who will take a hardline stance towards the rocket fire coming from Gaza," he explained. "The main lesson is that the Palestinians and Israelis did not learn any lessons from the war - it will bring more agony and destruction. Both parties are in a game of fools." Ron Kampeas, an Israeli political analyst, said the underlying motive of the strikes was that the ruling Kadima party wanted "to show it is as hawkish as the Likud". He told Al Jazeera that Benjamin Netanyahu, the leader of Likud, appeared likely to win the February 10 election and Livni was now trying to keep her job as foreign minister in a coalition government. Kampeas added that it remained to be seen whether Netanyahu, if he won, would form a coalition with Avigdor Lieberman, who is seen as further right than Netanyahu, and "could mean an even more hardline stance towards Hamas". Hamas condemnation A spokesman for the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip condemned the statements from the Israeli politicians. "We condemn the statements by Olmert and others today threatening the Gaza Strip," Taher al-Nunu, a Hamas spokesman, said in a statement on Sunday. "This is an attempt to find a false excuse to escalate the aggression against the Palestinians, to destroy the Egyptian efforts to improve the calm and to use pressure against the Palestinian people to accept Israeli conditions in those talks." Egyptian mediators have been attempting to secure a longer-term ceasefire addressing Israel's concerns over rocket attacks and weapons smuggling into Gaza, as well Palestinian demands for the Israeli siege of the territory to be lifted. |
By Shane Bauer in DamascusSome analysts say the fact that factions of Fatah have been fighting in Gaza symbolises the high level of disintegration within the organisation.
"[Abbas'] grassroots support doesn't want to be linked to or feel that it is a part of an organisation that has not participated in defending fellow Palestinians," says Maha Azzam, an associate fellow at the Middle East Centre at Chatham House.
They are saying "our leadership may be wrong, but there are those among us at the grassroots level that are willing to stand by our brethren in Gaza," says Azzam, adding that "this delegitimises Abbas' role enormously".
Hamas support growing
Meanwhile, in Damascus, the de facto capital of many Palestinian factions, the role of Hamas seems to be gaining greater legitimacy.
On Sunday, Musa Abu Marzuq, the deputy of Hamas' political bureau, appeared on Syrian television, speaking not in the name of Hamas, but "in the name of Palestinian resistance factions" to declare a one-week ceasefire and to insist that all Israeli troops leave within that time period and that border crossings be opened.
But despite the veneer of a unified front against Israel, Hamas might not be able to hold together an alliance of such disparate groups for long, analysts say.
One faction, the secular PFLP, has already dissented. Maher Taher, the PFLP's representative in Damascus, declined to comment on their decision, but in an interview with Al Jazeera, he insisted that "the Israeli attack is continuing".
"The PFLP is fighting on the ground against this barbaric invasion by Israel," he said in an interview last week, before the ceasefire.
"This is a battle involving all of the Palestinian people."
Last week, several other Palestinian factions in Damascus issued a statement refusing "any security arrangements that affect the resistance and its legitimate right to struggle against the occupation".
The coalition was composed of representatives of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the PFLP, Al Saiqa, the Popular Struggle Front, the Revolutionary Communist Party, Palestinian Liberation organisation, Fatah's 'Intifada' faction, and a number of other Palestinian groups.
They categorically refused the presence of international forces in Gaza, a proposition put forth in part by Abbas. They also said that any peace initiatives must include the immediate secession of Israeli attacks, the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, an end to the economic blockade, and an opening of all of Gaza's crossings, including the Rafah crossing with Egypt.
Temporary alliance
"This [alliance] will last so long as there is a crisis," Azzam says.
"Once stability is reached and the political process gets under way, which isn't particularly viable in the foreseeable future, then we will see the factionalism come to the fore again."
But whether or not Hamas' allies stay allies may not make much of a difference for Israel, observers say, adding that the different factions will either continue to stand behind Hamas, bolstering the group's legitimacy in Gaza, or break away and start launching rockets in violation of the ceasefires.
"All factions will need to agree on one position" for the conflict to come to a final solution, Taher said last week.
It is unclear what exactly that position will be, but with most factions still reserving the right to launch rockets outside of the one week ceasefire, an ultimate solution may still be a long way off.
Taher said: "We are not going to give up our right to resist until Israel ends the occupation."
Palestinian disunity
In June 2007, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas swore in a new emergency government that excluded his Islamist rivals, Hamas, who had seized control of Gaza after intense fighting between the rival factions. Abbas also issued decrees enabling new Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to rule without parliamentary approval and outlawing all of Hamas's armed forces. Fayyad's predecessor, Hamas leader Ismail Haniya called the new government illegal, while the United States and the European Union declared their support for the emergency government.
The collapsed Palestinian unity government which included Hamas had only been agreed in February (2007)after several months of fighting between the factions but mistrust between Hamas and Fatah continued. Armed clashes in Gaza in December 2006 and January 2007 had already brought the Palestinian rivals to the brink of civil war. Only after crisis talks hosted by Saudi Arabia did Hamas and Fatah agree to form the unity government.
However Western nations continued their aid boycott of the Palestinian Authority at the time because the Hamas movement refuses to renounce violence against Israel. The United States, the UN, the European Union and Russia - the so-called Quartet - repeatedly said that Hamas must meet three conditions before the financial blockade can be lifted: renounce violence, recognize Israel, and abide by previous agreements between Israel and the Palestinians.
Factional tensions between Hamas and Fatah first erupted into deadly armed clashes in the Gaza Strip in December 2006, when Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah called for early elections. Relations between Fatah and Hamas have been poor since Hamas won a shock election victory in January 2006, ousting Fatah from power. Fatah leader Abbas stayed on as president, while Hamas initially formed a government without Fatah. Western nations subsequently imposed an aid boycott on the Hamas government because the militant group has not renounced its aim of destroying the state of Israel. Up to 400 people have died in clashes between the two factions since the militant Hamas movement won last year's parliamentary elections.
Timeline of Conflict
2006
Dec 9 - Abbas suggests early polls; Hamas denounces the idea
Dec 11 - Three sons of a Fatah security chief are shot dead on their way to school
Dec 14 - Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya's convoy comes under fire; Hamas blames Fatah
Dec 16 - Abbas says he will call early elections; Hamas speaks of "coup"
Dec 19 - Formal truce between Hamas and Fatah
2007
Jan 1 - New clashes between Hamas and Fatah erupt in Gaza
Jan 21 - Abbas and Hamas political chief Meshaal meet in Syria
Jan 25 - Armed clashes between Hamas and Fatah flare up again
Jan 30 - Another truce between Hamas and Fatah becomes effective
Feb 2 - Truce collapses amid fresh clashes, followed by another cease-fire agreement
Feb 8 - Hamas and Fatah leaders agree to form a unity government at crisis talks in Mecca
Mar 15 - Palestinian unity cabinet unveiled
May 13 - Several days of fighting between Hamas and Fatah, at least 50 people die
May 15 - Israel resumes air strikes on Gaza following Palestinian rocket attacks
May 24 - Abbas calls on militants to cease their rocket attacks on Israel
Jun 12 - More heavy fighting between Hamas and Fatah despite cease-fire agreement
Jun 14 - Abbas declares state of emergency and dissolves the unity govt, Hamas captures Gaza.
Jun 15 - Abbas appoints new prime minister
Jun 17 - Abbas swears in new emergency govt that excludes Hamas
Jun 18 - US and EU declare support for new Palestinian govt
Aug 2 - Secretary of State Rice signs an agreement giving the Palestinian Authority $80m
Sep 19 - Israel declares Gaza Strip "hostile entity"
2008
Jan 17 - Israel seals off Gaza Strip after Palestinian rocket attacks
Jan 23 - Palestinians breach the border fence and cross into Egypt
Jun 19 - Cease-fire agreed between Israel and Hamas
Dec 19 - Cease-fire between Israel and Hamas expires
Dec 27 - Israel launches air strikes on Gaza Strip
2009
Jan 3 - Israel launches ground offensive into Gaza Strip
Jan 17/18 - Israel and Hamas declare new cease-fires after 3 weeks of hostilities
Key Players in the Conflict
Hamas leader Ismail Haniya
Haniya had been Palestinian prime minister since March 29th, 2006, after his militant Hamas movement won a clear majority in the parliamentary election in January. In March 2007 he became the prime minister of a government of national unity which included Fatah members. After gun battles in Gaza, the unity government collapsed in June 2007 and President Abbas appointed a new prime minister, but Haniya refused to accept his dismissal, describing the new emergency government as "illegal".
Hamas, the largest Palestinian militant Islamist movement, is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, and Israel, all of which have refused to deal directly with Hamas officials.
Hamas pursues the long-term aim of establishing an Islamic state on all of historic Palestine - most of which has been contained within Israel's borders since its creation in 1948. The grass-roots organization - with a political and a military wing - has an unknown number of active members but tens of thousands of supporters and sympathizers.
The decision to stand in Palestinian elections was a major departure for Hamas at the time. Top figures say it reflects the importance of the movement and the need for it to play a role in a failing Palestinian political sphere rife with corruption, inefficiency and lost credibility. But Hamas' armed wing remains the epitome of the "terrorist infrastructure" which the Palestinian Authority is called on to dismantle under the international peace plan known as the roadmap.
Hamas Political Chief Khaled Meshaal
Meshaal was named a Hamas leader following Israeli's killing of the group's founder, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, in March 2004. The organization's covert structure means it is unclear what authority he wields, but from his exile in the Syrian capital, Damascus, he has played an important role since the group won a majority in January's Palestinain parliamentary elections.
Unhindered by the travel restrictions imposed by Israel on Hamas leaders in Gaza and the West Bank, Meshaal has represented the group at meetings with foreign governments and other parties throughout the world. After talks with the Egyptian government and the Arab League in Cairo in February, Meshaal said that Hamas would be willing to take a serious step towards peace if Israel did the same. However he said resisting an occupation was legal and Hamas would not renounce violence. But he said a long-term truce would be possible if Israel accepted conditions, including a return to its 1967 borders.
Meshaal survived an Israeli assassination attempt on his life back in 1997 and he has always supported Palestinian attacks on Israelis. Like many Palestinians, he believes that such attacks are a legitimate act of resisting the Israeli occupation.
Israel has accused Meshaal and the Syrian-based leadership of Hamas of being behind the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Cpl Shalit was seized in a cross-border raid by militants in June 2006, sparking an Israeli ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehut Olmert (Kadima)
Olmert became acting prime minister after Ariel Sharon suffered a massive stroke on January 4th, 2006. He also took over the leadership of Sharon's new Kadima party and led it to victory in the Knesset elections in March 2006. However Kadima won only 29 of 120 seats and Olmert formed a coalition goverment with Israel's Labor Party and two smaller factions. A major element of the Kadima platform is Olmert's plan to fix permanent borders for Israel by 2010. Olmert joined the Israeli cabinet in 2003 and was appointed finance minister last year before becoming prime minister. He has been a strong supporter of Sharon's plans to withdraw Israeli settlers from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank. Despite widespread protests by settlers, the Gaza withdrawal went ahead in late August and early September 2005, with emotional scenes as Israeli troops removed some settlers by force.
In September 2008 Olmert, who faces several corruption inquiries, announced his resignation and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was asked to form a new government. Livni quickly urged Likud party leader Binyamin Netanyahu to join a national unity cabinet - a call the Likud leader has rejected before. Livni replaced Olmert as leader of Kadima, the largest party in the Israeli Knesset. If Livni, a former Mossad spy, is successful in building an administration, she should be able to govern until elections in 2010.
Olmert is likely to remain as caretaker prime minister while Livni tries to form the new government. Olmert denies any wrongdoing, but police have recommended he be indicted over two of the inquiries - allegations that he misused cash payments from an American businessman, and accusations that he double-billed government agencies for trips abroad.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (FATAH)
Abbas (also known as Abu Mazen) is the leader of the Fatah Party and was elected president of the Palestinian Authority in January 2005, to succeed the late Yasser Arafat. President George W. Bush praised the election of the moderate PLO leader as a tribute to the power and appeal of democracy and an "inspiration" to the region. In May 2005 Abbas became the first Palestinian leader to be given the red carpet treatment in Washington during the Bush presidency.
Abbas and then Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon had earlier announced a mutual cease-fire at a summit in Egypt. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said it was the best chance for peace in years.
However the militant Hamas group gave a lukewarm reaction to the summit, with its representative in Lebanon saying the cease-fire declarations were "not binding" on its members. Abbas' position as Palestinian leader became very complicated after the rival Hamas movement defeated his Fatah party in the parliamentary election on January 25th, 2006 and formed a cabinet without the participation of Fatah. The secular nationalist Fatah movement founded by Arafat in the 1950s had dominated Palestinian politics for many decades.
In December 2006 the tensions between Fatah and Hamas escalated into armed clashes in the Gaza Strip, further heavy fighting in June 2007 resulted in Hamas taking over the entire Gaza strip and ejecting Fatah. Abbas declared a state of emergency, appointed Salam Fayyad prime minister (see below) and fired Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, but Haniya refused to accept his dismissal.
Fatah Prime Minister Salam Fayyad
Salam Fayyad is considered a liberal and widely respected among the international organizations and donors. He worked at the World Bank in Washington from 1987-1995 and then served as the International Monetary Fund's representative to Palestine based in Jerusalem until 2001. He served as the finance minister under the Fatah-controlled administration from 2002-2005 and won praise from the international community for introducing economic reform. He is also credited with cracking down on official corruption.
He resigned from the cabinet in late 2005 to found and run the Third Way Bloc, an independent party. The party won two seats in the parliamentary election in January 2006. After the formation of the Palestinian unity government in February 2007, it was Fayyad who met US diplomats and then lobbied the European Union for a resumption of aid to the Palestinian Authority. In April, he met with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice informally - the highest-level contact between a US official and a minister in the Palestinian unity government. Born in 1952 near the West Bank city of Tulkarm, he holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Texas. He began his career teaching economics at Yarmuk University in Jordan.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Barack Obama, fresh from the pageantry of his historic inauguration, will turn on Wednesday toward his goals of rescuing the economy, charting a new course for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and shaping his approach to the Middle East conflict.Obama has pledged bold and swift action to deal with the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. He has also asked Americans for patience in grappling with challenges both foreign and domestic that will take time to resolve.
With financial markets reeling and job losses mounting, Obama will meet with his economic advisers, who are working with the Democratic-led Congress on an $825 billion fiscal stimulus package.
He also is seeking fresh approaches to repair the battered financial system and is mulling a host of ideas, including the creation of a government-run bank that would buy up toxic assets from ailing U.S. banks.
The aim is to rekindle the flow of the credit to the economy so businesses and consumers can get access to loans.
Iraq and Afghanistan will dominate Obama's foreign policy agenda, but he has also said he will take an active role to try to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
He may move quickly to name a Middle East envoy and is strongly considering George Mitchell, a former U.S. senator and veteran international troubleshooter, for the job.
In addition to the economic meeting, Obama will also sit down with top military officials to discuss Iraq and Afghanistan.
He has said he favors a 16-month timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and U.S. officials said that in his meeting with military leaders, he would discuss the possibility of accelerating their departure.
Obama also will discuss plans to bolster troops in Afghanistan as he meets with a Pentagon delegation led by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Gen. David Petraeus, the former Iraq commander credited with pulling the country from the brink of civil war, was to attend Wednesday's meeting after flying back from Afghanistan.
SECRETARY OF STATE
A Senate vote is expected on Wednesday on Obama's nomination of Hillary Clinton as secretary of state.
But he will begin his new administration without a Treasury secretary. His nominee for the job, Tim Geithner, will face questions from a Senate panel about his past failure to pay some taxes.
Geithner has said the tax problem stemmed from an error and several senators have said they thought the issue would not prevent his confirmation.
Obama has found a receptive audience on Capitol Hill for his call for aggressive action to help the economy and hopes to garner bipartisan support for the massive stimulus package.
But Republicans have raised questions about the package, including how quickly the money will be spent and whether certain projects will actually kick-start the economy, which has been in a recession for over a year.
Obama is pressing for passage of the package by mid-February.
(Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick, Jeremy Pelofsky and David Morgan; Editing by Patricia Zengerle)
This is the full text of President Obama’s inauguration speech:My fellow citizens: I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and co-operation he has shown throughout this transition.
Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.
So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.
That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.
These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America’s decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.
Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met.
On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.
On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.
We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labour, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and travelled across oceans in search of a new life.
For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and ploughed the hard earth.
For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.
Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.
This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.
For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.
Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.
What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.
Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favours only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.
As for our common defence, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.
Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.
We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the spectre of a warming planet. We will not apologise for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.
For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.
To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.
To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.
As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.
For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the fire-fighter’s courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent’s willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.
Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.
This is the price and the promise of citizenship.
This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.
This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.
So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have travelled. In the year of America’s birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people: “Let it be told to the future world…that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive…that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it].”
America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.
SUmber: Independent
This page was last updated on 18 December 2008
Definition 
Field Listing 
Rank Order | Introduction | Gaza Strip | Top of Page |
| Background: | The September 1993 Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements provided for a transitional period of Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Under a series of agreements signed between May 1994 and September 1999, Israel transferred to the Palestinian Authority (PA) security and civilian responsibility for Palestinian-populated areas of the West Bank and Gaza. Negotiations to determine the permanent status of the West Bank and Gaza stalled following the outbreak of an intifada in September 2000, as Israeli forces reoccupied most Palestinian-controlled areas. In April 2003, the Quartet (US, EU, UN, and Russia) presented a roadmap to a final settlement of the conflict by 2005 based on reciprocal steps by the two parties leading to two states, Israel and a democratic Palestine. The proposed date for a permanent status agreement was postponed indefinitely due to violence and accusations that both sides had not followed through on their commitments. Following Palestinian leader Yasir ARAFAT's death in late 2004, Mahmud ABBAS was elected PA president in January 2005. A month later, Israel and the PA agreed to the Sharm el-Sheikh Commitments in an effort to move the peace process forward. In September 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew all its settlers and soldiers and dismantled its military facilities in the Gaza Strip and withdrew settlers and redeployed soldiers from four small northern West Bank settlements. Nonetheless, Israel controls maritime, airspace, and most access to the Gaza Strip. A November 2005 PA-Israeli agreement authorized the reopening of the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt under joint PA and Egyptian control. In January 2006, the Islamic Resistance Movement, HAMAS, won control of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). The international community refused to accept the HAMAS-led government because it did not recognize Israel, would not renounce violence, and refused to honor previous peace agreements between Israel and the PA. HAMAS took control of the PA government in March 2006, but President ABBAS had little success negotiating with HAMAS to present a political platform acceptable to the international community so as to lift economic sanctions on Palestinians. The PLC was unable to convene throughout most of 2006 as a result of Israel's detention of many HAMAS PLC members and Israeli-imposed travel restrictions on other PLC members. Violent clashes took place between Fatah and HAMAS supporters in the Gaza Strip in 2006 and early 2007, resulting in numerous Palestinian deaths and injuries. ABBAS and HAMAS Political Bureau Chief MISHAL in February 2007 signed the Mecca Agreement in Saudi Arabia that resulted in the formation of a Palestinian National Unity Government (NUG) headed by HAMAS member Ismail HANIYA. However, fighting continued in the Gaza Strip, and in June, HAMAS militants succeeded in a violent takeover of all military and governmental institutions in the Gaza Strip. ABBAS dismissed the NUG and through a series of Presidential decrees formed a PA government in the West Bank led by independent Salam FAYYAD. HAMAS rejected the NUG's dismissal and has called for resuming talks with Fatah, but ABBAS has ruled out negotiations until HAMAS agrees to a return of PA control over the Gaza Strip and recognizes the FAYYAD-led government. FAYYAD and his PA government initiated a series of security and economic reforms to improve conditions in the West Bank. ABBAS participated in talks with Israel's Prime Minister OLMERT and secured the release of some Palestinian prisoners and previously withheld customs revenue. During a November 2007 international meeting in Annapolis Maryland, ABBAS and OLMERT agreed to resume peace negotiations with the goal of reaching a final peace settlement by the end of 2008. |
| Geography | Gaza Strip | Top of Page |
| Location: | Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Israel |
| Geographic coordinates: | 31 25 N, 34 20 E |
| Map references: | Middle East |
| Area: | total: 360 sq km land: 360 sq km water: 0 sq km |
| Area - comparative: | slightly more than twice the size of Washington, DC |
| Land boundaries: | total: 62 km border countries: Egypt 11 km, Israel 51 km |
| Coastline: | 40 km |
| Maritime claims: | Israeli-occupied with current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent status to be determined through further negotiation |
| Climate: | temperate, mild winters, dry and warm to hot summers |
| Terrain: | flat to rolling, sand- and dune-covered coastal plain |
| Elevation extremes: | lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m highest point: Abu 'Awdah (Joz Abu 'Auda) 105 m |
| Natural resources: | arable land, natural gas |
| Land use: | arable land: 29% permanent crops: 21% other: 50% (2002) |
| Irrigated land: | 150 sq km; note - includes West Bank (2003) |
| Natural hazards: | droughts |
| Environment - current issues: | desertification; salination of fresh water; sewage treatment; water-borne disease; soil degradation; depletion and contamination of underground water resources |
| Geography - note: | strategic strip of land along Mideast-North African trade routes has experienced an incredibly turbulent history; the town of Gaza itself has been besieged countless times in its history |
| People | Gaza Strip | Top of Page |
| Population: | 1,500,202 (July 2008 est.) |
| Age structure: | 0-14 years: 44.7% (male 343,988/female 325,856) 15-64 years: 52.7% (male 403,855/female 386,681) 65 years and over: 2.7% (male 16,196/female 23,626) (2008 est.) |
| Median age: | total: 17.2 years male: 17 years female: 17.4 years (2008 est.) |
| Population growth rate: | 3.422% (2008 est.) |
| Birth rate: | 37.75 births/1,000 population (2008 est.) |
| Death rate: | 3.53 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.) |
| Net migration rate: | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.) |
| Sex ratio: | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2008 est.) |
| Infant mortality rate: | total: 19 deaths/1,000 live births male: 20.22 deaths/1,000 live births female: 17.72 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.) |
| Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 73.16 years male: 71.6 years female: 74.83 years (2008 est.) |
| Total fertility rate: | 5.19 children born/woman (2008 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: | NA |
| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: | NA |
| HIV/AIDS - deaths: | NA |
| Nationality: | noun: NA adjective: NA |
| Ethnic groups: | Palestinian Arab |
| Religions: | Muslim (predominantly Sunni) 99.3%, Christian 0.7% |
| Languages: | Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by many Palestinians), English (widely understood) |
| Literacy: | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 92.4% male: 96.7% female: 88% (2004 est.) |
| School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education): | total: 14 years male: 13 years female: 14 years (2006) |
| Education expenditures: | NA |
| Government | Gaza Strip | Top of Page |
| Country name: | conventional long form: none conventional short form: Gaza Strip local long form: none local short form: Qita Ghazzah |
| Economy | Gaza Strip | Top of Page |
| Economy - overview: | High population density, limited land access, and strict internal and external security controls have kept economic conditions in the Gaza Strip - the smaller of the two areas under the Palestinian Authority (PA)- even more degraded than in the West Bank. The beginning of the second intifada in September 2000 sparked an economic downturn, largely the result of Israeli closure policies; these policies, which were imposed to address security concerns in Israel, disrupted labor and trade access to and from the Gaza Strip. In 2001, and even more severely in 2003, Israeli military measures in PA areas resulted in the destruction of capital, the disruption of administrative structures, and widespread business closures. The Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in September 2005 offered some medium-term opportunities for economic growth, but continued Israeli-imposed crossings closures, which became more restrictive after Hamas violently took over the territory in June 2007, have resulted in widespread private sector layoffs and shortages of most goods. |
| GDP (purchasing power parity): | $5.034 billion (includes West Bank) (2006 est.) |
| GDP (official exchange rate): | $5.328 billion (includes West Bank) (2006 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate: | -8% (includes West Bank) (2006 est.) |
| GDP - per capita (PPP): | $1,100 (includes West Bank) (2006 est.) |
| GDP - composition by sector: | agriculture: 8% industry: 13% services: 79% (includes West Bank) (2006 est.) |
| Labor force: | 267,000 (2006) |
| Labor force - by occupation: | agriculture: 12% industry: 18% services: 70% (2005) |
| Unemployment rate: | 34.8% (2006) |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share: | lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA% |
| Budget: | revenues: $1.149 billion expenditures: $2.31 billion note: includes West Bank (2006) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices): | 3.6% (includes West Bank) (2006) |
| Commercial bank prime lending rate: | 7.73% (31 December 2006) |
| Stock of money: | $1.574 billion (31 December 2007) |
| Stock of quasi money: | $3.048 billion (31 December 2007) |
| Stock of domestic credit: | $1.455 billion (31 December 2007) |
| Agriculture - products: | olives, citrus, vegetables; beef, dairy products |
| Industries: | generally small family businesses that produce textiles, soap, olive-wood carvings, and mother-of-pearl souvenirs; the Israelis had established some small-scale modern industries in an industrial center, but operations ceased prior to Israel's evacuation of Gaza Strip settlements |
| Industrial production growth rate: | 2.4% (includes West Bank) (2005) |
| Electricity - production: | 140,000 kWh (2005) |
| Electricity - consumption: | 230,000 kWh (2005) |
| Electricity - exports: | 0 kWh (2005) |
| Electricity - imports: | 90,000 kWh; note - from Israeli Electric Company (2005) |
| Exports: | $301 million f.o.b.; (includes West Bank) (2005) |
| Exports - commodities: | citrus, flowers, textiles |
| Exports - partners: | Israel, Egypt, West Bank (2006) |
| Imports: | $2.44 billion c.i.f.; (includes West Bank) (2005) |
| Imports - commodities: | food, consumer goods, construction materials |
| Imports - partners: | Israel, Egypt, West Bank (2006) |
| Debt - external: | $NA |
| Currency (code): | new Israeli shekel (ILS) |
| Exchange rates: | new Israeli shekels (ILS) per US dollar - 4.14 (2007), 4.4565 (2006), 4.4877 (2005), 4.482 (2004), 4.5541 (2003) |
| Communications | Gaza Strip | Top of Page |
| Telephones - main lines in use: | 350,400 (includes West Bank) (2007) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular: | 1.026 million (includes West Bank) (2007) |
| Telephone system: | general assessment: NA domestic: Israeli company BEZEK and the Palestinian company PALTEL are responsible for fixed line services; the Palestinian JAWAL company provides cellular services international: country code - 970 (2004) |
| Radio broadcast stations: | AM 0, FM 10, shortwave 0 (2008) |
| Television broadcast stations: | 1 (2008) |
| Internet country code: | .ps; note - same as West Bank |
| Internet users: | 355,500 (includes West Bank) (2007) |
| Transportation | Gaza Strip | Top of Page |
| Airports: | 2 (2007) |
| Airports - with paved runways: | total: 1 over 3,047 m: 1 (2007) |
| Airports - with unpaved runways: | total: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2007) |
| Heliports: | 1 (2007) |
| Roadways: | note: see entry for West Bank |
| Ports and terminals: | Gaza |
| Military | Gaza Strip | Top of Page |
| Military branches: | in accordance with the peace agreement, the Palestinian Authority is not permitted conventional military forces; there are, however, public security forces (2008) |
| Manpower available for military service: | males age 16-49: 337,670 (2008 est.) |
| Manpower fit for military service: | males age 16-49: 291,467 (2008 est.) |
| Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually: | male: 19,275 female: 18,309 (2008 est.) |
| Military expenditures: | NA |
| Transnational Issues | Gaza Strip | Top of Page |
| Disputes - international: | West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli-occupied with current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent status to be determined through further negotiation; Israel removed settlers and military personnel from the Gaza Strip in August 2005 |
| Refugees and internally displaced persons: | refugees (country of origin): 1.017 million (Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA)) (2007) |
This page was last updated on 18 December 2008
