Gates of Vienna News Feed 4/3/2011

Richard Goldstone is the South African judge who authored the infamous Goldstone Report for the UN, which condemned Israel for human rights violations and the deliberate targeting of Palestinian civilians in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead in 2009. Now Judge Goldstone has retracted the worst of his conclusions, saying in a Washington Post editorial that the Israelis did not systematically target civilians or commit any of the other abuses they were accused of. Israel has demanded that the UN nullify the Goldstone Report on the basis of its author’s retraction.

Meanwhile, the European Central Bank is set to raise interest rates ahead of the Fed. This is the first time in forty years that ECB has gone out of line with the Fed. The move is expected to improve the value of the euro against the dollar.

In other news, a suicide bomber attacked a Sufi temple in Pakistan during the Urs religious celebration, killing at least 41 people. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility.

To see the headlines and the articles, open the full news post.

Thanks to AC, C. Cantoni, Diana West, Gaia, heroyalwhyness, Insubria, JD, MN, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

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Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.