DUBAI, 5 December (IRIN) - CONTENTS:

IRAQ: Um Khalid, Iraq "Men here believe they are immune to the disease" IRAQ: New dam threatens agriculture and marshland IRAQ: Travellers use codes to stay safe IRAQ: Sahar Ahmed, Iraq "We need to leave this country as soon as possible" IRAQ: Fighting swords with pens ISRAEL-OPT: For farmers, much of their land remains out of reach

ISRAEL-OPT: Wall creates Palestinian cultural divide ISRAEL-OPT: Ghettos form in shadow of the wall ISRAEL: Hundreds of thousands denied marriage ISRAEL-OPT: Palestinian homes abandoned in flight across Israel's wall ISRAEL-LEBANON: Accident reveals newly laid Israeli mines JORDAN: AIDS high-risk groups must be controlled, says senior official JORDAN: Rights group calls for more protection for Iraqi refugees JORDAN: Fuheis residents suffer cement factory pollution occ. Palestinian terr.: Gaza's teetering tower of debt YEMEN: Number of boat refugees double last year

IRAQ: Um Khalid, Iraq "Men here believe they are immune to the disease"

Iraq has traditionally had one of the lowest incidences of HIV/AIDS in the Middle East. This started to slowly change after the US-led invasion in 2003 brought hundreds of foreigners into the country, opening the doors for the spread of the virus, health workers say.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56577 and SelectRegion=Middle_East and SelectCountry=IRAQ

IRAQ: New dam threatens agriculture and marshland

Alarm bells rang last August at Khalifa Shawkat al-Yass' house as news spread of the construction of a massive dam on the Tigris River in Turkey. As a farmer depending on the Tigris, fear of losing his livelihood has been a constant worry on his mind ever since.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56557 and SelectRegion=Middle_East and SelectCountry=IRAQ

IRAQ: Travellers use codes to stay safe

Businessman Abdallah Kammal, 52, arrived safely to his Baghdad home after a working trip abroad, but only after following strict security precautions.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56560 and SelectRegion=Middle_East and SelectCountry=IRAQ

IRAQ: Sahar Ahmed, Iraq "We need to leave this country as soon as possible"

Of the approximately 30,000 Palestinians who were registered in Iraq in 2003 by the United Nations agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA), an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 are left in the country, according to UNHCR and other organisations.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56534 and SelectRegion=Middle_East and SelectCountry=IRAQ

IRAQ: Fighting swords with pens

Freelance journalist Samir Khairallah, 31, walks a tight line between reporting the news and not becoming the news. With ongoing insurgent attacks and brutal sectarian violence plaguing the country, he must be careful about what he writes and whose 'side' he is perceived to be on.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56515 and SelectRegion=Middle_East and SelectCountry=IRAQ

ISRAEL-OPT: For farmers, much of their land remains out of reach

Israel began building a 703 km-long barrier through the West Bank in the occupied Palestinian territories in 2002. Much of it is an electric fence but in heavily populated areas it becomes an eight-metre high concrete wall.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56581 and SelectRegion=Middle_East and SelectCountry=ISRAEL-OPT

ISRAEL-OPT: Wall creates Palestinian cultural divide

Israel began building an eight-metre high, 703 km-long concrete barrier through the West Bank in the occupied Palestinian territories in 2002. To date, some 670 km of it has been completed.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56562 and SelectRegion=Middle_East and SelectCountry=ISRAEL-OPT

ISRAEL-OPT: Ghettos form in shadow of the wall

Israel began building an eight-metre high, 703 km-long concrete barrier through the West Bank in the occupied Palestinian territories in 2002. To date, some 670 km of it has been completed.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56540 and SelectRegion=Middle_East and SelectCountry=ISRAEL-OPT

ISRAEL: Hundreds of thousands denied marriage

When Israeli couple Rinat and Roman Gerber decided to get married, they knew their first stop would be a travel agency rather than their local synagogue or town hall.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56522 and SelectRegion=Middle_East and SelectCountry=ISRAEL

ISRAEL-OPT: Palestinian homes abandoned in flight across Israel's wall

Israel began building an eight-metre high, 703 km-long concrete barrier through the West Bank in the occupied Palestinian territories in 2002. To date, some 670 km of it has been completed.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56519 and SelectRegion=Middle_East and SelectCountry=ISRAEL-OPT

ISRAEL-LEBANON: Accident reveals newly laid Israeli mines

The Israeli army sowed landmines in south Lebanon during its summer conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon, the United Nations said on 25 November.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56513 and SelectRegion=Middle_East and SelectCountry=ISRAEL-LEBANON

JORDAN: AIDS high-risk groups must be controlled, says senior official

Despite the low prevalence of AIDS in Jordan, the existence of vulnerable groups that could become infected with the virus and the difficulty in tracking them are the biggest challenges for the country's new strategy on AIDS, a senior health official said.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56574 and SelectRegion=Middle_East and SelectCountry=JORDAN

JORDAN: Rights group calls for more protection for Iraqi refugees

A leading international human rights group on Tuesday called on Jordan to provide a Temporary Protection Regime (TPR) for the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees living in its territory.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56549 and SelectRegion=Middle_East and SelectCountry=JORDAN

JORDAN: Fuheis residents suffer cement factory pollution

Once known to Jordanians as a beautiful town set in green mountains and with a pleasant climate, Fuheis is quickly losing its renown as it reels under clouds of dust and chemicals emanating from the town's cement factory.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56514 and SelectRegion=Middle_East and SelectCountry=JORDAN

occ. Palestinian terr.: Gaza's teetering tower of debt

Abu Khamis's credit book is seeing a lot of use these days. The scribbled notes account for 45,000 shekels (US$10,000) owed for goods he has advanced to his penniless customers.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56536 and SelectRegion=Middle_East and SelectCountry=OPT

YEMEN: Number of boat refugees double last year

Twice as many Somalis and Ethiopians crossed the Gulf of Aden in September and October this year than the same period in 2006, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Monday.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56542 and SelectRegion=Middle_East and SelectCountry=YEMEN

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