Mid-East updates

hmmh, "Courtesy of the State Department, circa November 2001, when Iraq was fairly unique among countries in the Middle East" for not having al Qaeda operate there .

And:

"Israel has recently become upset by the IAEA's pronouncement regarding Israel's nuclear threat capacity, saying that they will refuse to participate in a nuclear free middle east symposium unless the IAEA removes language indicating Israel as a nuclear threat.
In other news, the Fuji apple, a blend of Red Delicious and Granny Smith, has recently refused to participate in this weekend's farmers' market unless the farmers remove language referring to it as an apple."

From Broken Letters