“Prime Minister” on The Daily Caller

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel said Sunday it was launching an international campaign to push the United Nations to rescind a scathing report on Israeli war conduct in the Gaza Strip two years ago, after the report’s author backtracked from key allegations against the Jewish state. (more)

Reporting from Tunis, Tunisia — (more)

In the wake of Jared Lee Loughner’s attempted assassination of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, experts believe that Loughner’s attorneys will seek an acquittal for their client by reason of insanity. (more)

1.) Will newly elected governors put on a better show than House Republicans? — We are all fiscal conservatives now; at least at the state level. According to the New York Times, the majority of newly elected governors have said they will redeem their states’ economies in a similar manner: “Slash spending. Avoid tax increases. Tear up regulations that might drive away business and jobs. Shrink government, even if that means tackling the thorny issues of public employees and their pensions.” Scott D. Pattison at the National Association of State Budget Officers told the Times that the rhetoric is so consistent, “[Y]ou can’t tell if it’s a Republican or Democrat, a conservative or a liberal.” There are exceptions to this new rule: In order to get at the vast wealth of his few remaining rich residents, incoming Illinois Gov. Patrick J. Quinn signed into law a 66% income tax increase. (more)

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has tried recently to beef-up his image as a manly man or, in the words of his camp, “as a man of deeds in case he returns to the presidency in 2012.”  Putin has accomplished this by appearing “caught on camera” while outdoors fishing, taking long walks and “[enjoying] “events involving the participation of fauna.” (more)

In America, you probably know her as Portia de Rossi, but in my town, Geelong, she’s also known as Amanda Lee Rogers, born January 31, 1973. “Married” to talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, the Generation X star and vegan lesbian, however, seems more Hollywood than regional Australian. (more)

MOSCOW (AFP) – Russia’s tough-guy prime minister Vladimir Putin called Hollywood heart-throb Leonardo DiCaprio a real man after the actor’s plane had to make make an emergency landing on the way to a summit on tigers in Putin’s native Saint Petersburg. (more)

It seems as though every single peace process must begin and end with Israel.  At least that is the position of the Obama administration, the EU and the UN.  But this narrative is why the peace process has failed after more than seven wars and countless peace agreements and UN resolutions. The idea that Israel has all of the cards and that it is up to Israel to deliver peace shows that the international community and the US still fundamentally do not understand the roots of the conflict and why peace can only be achieved under specific circumstances. (more)

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced Wednesday that the U.S. would give the Palestinian Authority an additional $150 million in direct aid. (more)

This is vile even by UN standards. (more)

Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin recently released a collection of photos “to preserve his image as a man of deeds in case he returns to the presidency in 2012,” The Guardian reports. Rather than accomplish this, however, the glamor shots make Putin look like he’s posing for L.L Bean’s fall catalog. (more)

Joel Rosenberg is the author of the new novel, “The Twelfth Imam.” (more)

Daniel Hannan is the author of the new book,”The New Road to Serfdom: A Letter of Warning to America.” The pro-American British politician is currently a Member of the European Parliament. (more)

This Saturday, one of Greece’s most respected newspapers, To Vima, reported that the nation’s largest government health insurance provider would no longer pay for special footwear for diabetes patients.  Amputation is cheaper, says the Benefits Division of the state insurance provider. (more)

LONDON (Reuters) – Anti-terrorism police, on high alert during a visit by Pope Benedict to the British capital, arrested six men on Friday on suspicion of preparing an attack. (more)

JERUSALEM – Israeli and Palestinian leaders are delving very quickly into some of the most difficult issues dividing them, the U.S. special envoy to the region said in an unusually upbeat report Wednesday, even as Israeli fighters bombed a smuggling tunnel and Palestinian militants launched mortar rounds into southern Israel. (more)

TOKYO — Japan moved Wednesday to prop up the U.S. dollar and weaken the yen in a bid to protect its export-led economy, intervening in international currency markets for the first time since 2004. (more)

A candid former British Prime Minister Tony Blair stands by his and the Bush administration’s decision to pursue the Iraq war, even as he expresses regret for the lives lost in the conflict. (more)

Tony Blair today lays the blame for Labour’s election ‘disaster’ with Gordon Brown and reveals he dealt with the’maddening’ pressure from his former chancellor to step aside by drinking to excess. (more)

A senior politician who is challenging Japan’s prime minister for leadership of the country has slammed Americans as “simple-minded,” and confessed that he doesn’t like Brits much, either. (more)