An Israeli soldier who fought in the country's war on Gaza last year is to be prosecuted for the manslaughter of two Palestinian women, the military has said.

The move, which is the first prosecution of an Israeli soldier over the deaths of civilians during the 22-day war, was one of several disciplinary steps announced by the army following an internal investigation.

"The military advocate general has decided to indict a number of officers and soldiers for their conduct during the operation," an army statement said on Tuesday.

They include a disciplinary hearing for a battalion commander with the rank of lieutenant colonel who allegedly allowed troops to use a Palestinian as a human shield, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Last March General David Petraeus, then head of Central Command, sought to undercut his own testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee that was critical of Israel by intriguing with a rightwing writer to put out a different story, in emails obtained by Mondoweiss.

The emails show Petraeus encouraging Max Boot of Commentary to write a story-- and offering the neoconservative writer choice details about his views on the Holocaust:

Does it help if folks know that I hosted Elie Wiesel and his wife at our quarters last Sun night?!  And that I will be the speaker at the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camps in mid-Apr at the Capitol Dome...

Petraeus passed the emails along himself through carelessness last March. He pasted a Boot column from Commentary's blog into in an "FYI" email he sent to an activist who is highly critical of the U.S.'s special relationship with Israel. Some of the general's emails to Boot were attached to the bottom of the story. The activist, James Morris, shared the emails with me.

Hundreds of pro-government protesters have tried to enter the UN offices in the Sri Lankan capital during a demonstration against an inquiry into alleged rights abuses during the war against Tamil rebels. 

Wimal Weerawansa, Sri Lanka's housing minister, led the demonstration in Colombo on Tuesday, which saw the protesters try to breach security walls before staging a sit-in outside the compound.

"We warn the UN to withdraw the [investigating] panel if they want to get the employees out," Weerawansa said, addressing the crowd.

"Our armed forces have beaten terrorism in an exemplary manner. The panel is intended at taking our soldiers and political leaders before international courts. We will not let that happen."

The 19-year-old South African was sidelined for 11 months after undergoing gender tests following her 800-meter victory at the world championships last August.

The International Association of Athletics Federations said Tuesday it accepts the conclusion of a panel of medical experts that she can compete with "immediate effect."

The statement adds that medical details of her case remain confidential and the IAAF will have no further comment on the matter.

In Malaysia, political cartoons criticizing the government are labeled as a threat to national security. Last week, the Government of Malaysia banned three of my political cartoon books and magazines under the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 (PPPA).

On June 24, Home Ministry secretary-general Mahmood Adam said that "all three publications have been banned for their contents that can influence the people to revolt against the leaders and government policies." He added that the contents are not suitable and detrimental to public order.

Last year, officials from the Home Ministry also raided my office in Kuala Lumpur and siezed my other magazine, Gedung Kartun (Cartoon Store) under the same act.

Four journalists have filed complaints with Ontario's police watchdog, alleging physical assaults and threats of sexual violence by police during the Toronto G20 summit, their lawyer says.

Amy Miller, Daniel McIsaac, Jesse Rosenfeld and Lisa Walter each filed complaints about their arrests with the Office of the Independent Police Review Director on Tuesday, their lawyer Julian Falconer of Falconer Charney LLP said in a release.

According to Rosenfeld's complaint, the Toronto-based freelance journalist for the Guardian was covering a group of demonstrators in front of the Novotel hotel in downtown Toronto on Saturday evening when he said he was attacked by police.

Barack Obama will meet the Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu for the fifth time today at the start of a US visit aimed at improving strained relations between Israel and the US.

Netanyahu is expected to get a better reception than he did in March, when Obama kept him at arm's length and refused even a photo of their meeting.

Today's meeting was due to be held a month ago, but was postponed after Israeli troops killed nine Turkish activists in a raid on a Gaza aid flotilla.

A US army intelligence analyst was today charged with leaking a highly classified video of American forces killing unarmed civilians in Baghdad and secret diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks.

Private Bradley Manning, who had a top-secret security clearance, has been held in military custody in Kuwait since his arrest in Iraq in May over the video, which caused great embarrassment to the US military establishment. It showed an air strike that killed a dozen people, including two Iraqis working for Reuters news agency. The air crew is heard falsely claiming to have encountered a firefight in Baghdad and then laughing at the dead. WikiLeaks gave the video the title Collateral Murder.

In a funeral free of the usual pageantry and party politics of the nation he long sought to unite, Lebanon laid its Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah to rest today in the mosque where his sermons of resistance and religion inspired millions of Muslims worldwide.

Delegations from across the Middle East, from the Shia holy cities of Qom in Iran and Najaf in Iraq, to Sunni Islam's Azhar mosque in Cairo, travelled to Beirut's southern suburbs to pay their respects to a religious authority instrumental in the establishment of Hezbollah and the growth of Shia political power.

Security was tight for tens of thousands of mourners following Fadlallah's coffin. Banks and public offices closed as Lebanon observed an official day of mourning. The ayatollah's family received condolence from Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an overnight visit kept secret for fear of assassination by the Israelis.

Like a scene from a Western movie, the two top lawmen here are settling their scores in public.

In May, a Nye County sheriff's deputy arrested the district attorney. The sheriff, Tony De Meo, alleges that the D.A., Robert Beckett, was misusing public funds.

According to Mr. De Meo, public money had gone to supporting the local cheerleading squad, led by the D.A.'s wife, and to make a family friend's car payments. No charges have been filed, in part because Mr. Beckett, the D.A., refuses to charge himself.

[...]

The special prosecutor filed felony charges against the sheriff's deputy, David Boruchowitz, who had arrested the D.A.

Mr. Boruchowitz was also the sheriff's informal press liaison. And after he was summoned to lock himself in the corrugated metal county jail, he sent out a press release with his own mug shot announcing he had been arrested. A judge later rejected the charges, contending Mr. Beckett didn't have the power to appoint a special prosecutor. So Mr. Beckett refiled the charges himself.