In 1985, a Lebanese Shi'te resistance movement sponsored by Iran, calling itself Hezbollah, called for armed struggle to "end the Israel occupation of Lebanese territory". When the Lebanese civil war ended and other warring factions agreed to disarm, Hezbollah and the SLA refused. Combat with Hezbollah weakened Israeli resolve and led to a collapse of the SLA and an Israeli withdrawal in 2000 to their side of the UN designated border. Citing Israeli control of the Shebaa farms territory, Hezbollah continued cross border attacks intermittently over the next six years. Hezbollah now sought freedom for Lebanese citizens in Israeli prisons and successfully used the tactic of capturing Israeli soldiers as leverage for a prisoner exchange in 2004. The capturing of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah ignited the 2006 Lebanon War. Its ceasefire called for the disarmament of Hezbollah and the remaining armed camps of the PLO, and for Lebanon to control its southern border militarily for the first time in four decades.
Hostilities were suspended on 8 September 2006. As of 2009 Hezbollah had not disarmed. On 18 June 2008, Israel declared that it was open to peace talks with Lebanon.
Arab–Israeli conflict
The Arab–Israeli conflict is a term used to describe the political tensions and open hostilities between the Arab countries of the Middle East and North Africa and the State of Israel. The conflict has gone on since 1948.
The Arab–Israeli conflict began from earlier tensions between the Arab and Jewish communities in British Mandatory Palestine, with the rise of two nationalist movements - Zionist movement among Jews and Arab nationalism among the Arabs. The ethnic conflict in Mandatory Palestine was also a result of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, which created tension over the division and ownership of the land. While the Jewish people saw the land as their historical homeland of the Land of Israel, the Palestinian people and Pan-Arab movement saw the land as Palestine belonging to the Arabs and in the Pan-Islamic context, as territory regarded as Muslim lands.
The modern conflict started with the 1948 Arab-Israeli war in parallel with the creation of state of Israel by the Jews. Later, on the course of the 1948 War, the All-Palestine Government was created in Gaza Strip by the Arab League, as an Arab Palestinian state. Israel won the 1948 war, and the All-Palestine Government moved to Cairo in Egypt and were not allowed to return to Gaza. They gradually lost importance, until abolished in 1959 by the Egyptian President Nasser.
In 1964, another Palestinian political organization was formed by Yasser Arafat (named Palestinian Liberation Organization), and became the most important Palestinian movement. In 1967, Arab countries and Israel fought the Six-Day War, resulting in Israeli takeover of Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, West Bank from Jordan and Golan Heights from Syria. Jordan, Egypt and PLO soon began a low-level War of Attrition, which lasted from 1967 to 1970 with no significant benefits to any side. In 1973, another major war, the Yom Kippur War, was started by Egypt and Syria to regain the territory lost in the Six Day War. Egypt liberated part of the Sinai, and Syria was pushed back to Damascus. Egypt and Israel both claimed victory and till now historians argue as to whom the victory belongs to.
Over the years, it has changed from the large-scale Arab–Israeli conflict to a more local Israeli-Palestinian conflict, though the Arab World and Israel still disagree with each other over specific territory.
Gaza War
The Gaza War was a three-week armed conflict that took place in the Gaza Strip during the winter of 2008–2009. It was codenamed Operation Cast Lead ( "Mivtza Oferet Yetzuka") by the Israeli government.
The Gaza War is said to have begun when Israel started an air strike against the Gaza Strip on Dec. 27. This was after a six-month truce between Israel and Hamas had run out and Hamas had resumed rocket attacks against Israel. Israel's said its aim was to stop Hamas' rocket attacks on Israel from and arms import into the territory. Israeli forces attacked military targets, police stations and government buildings. Hamas intensified its rocket and mortar attacks against Southern Israel, reaching the major cities of Beersheba and Ashdod for the first time. An Israeli ground invasion began on January 3, 2009. The war ended on January 18, when Israel first declared a unilateral(one-sided) ceasefire, followed by Hamas' announcing a one-week ceasefire twelve hours later. Israel completed its withdrawal on January 21. The conflict resulted in between 1,166 and 1,417 Palestinian and 13 Israeli deaths.
Peugeot 406
The Peugeot 406 was a car produced by Peugeot. It replaced the 405 in 1995 with an estate and coupe models added in 1997, facelifted in 1999 and in 2004 it was replaced by the 407.
RZA
Robert Diggs (born July 5, 1969) is an American rapper and producer, as well as a member of the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, better known by his stage name, RZA. He was a member of Gravediggaz. He was known as Rzarector. This is a pun on 'resurrector'. RZA has written two books.
RZA started his music career in 1991 when he released the EP "Ooh I Love You Rakeem".
Jordan Staal
Jordan Staal (born September 10, 1988) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player for the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is regarded as one of the NHL's premier penalty-killers, both for his strong defensive skills, along with his scoring touch that makes him a threat for shorthanded goals. He has also played for the Pittsburgh Penguins for 6 seasons before he was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes during the 2012 NHL Entry Draft on June 22, 2012.
News Corp. Digital Media
News Corp. Digital Media is a subsidiary of News Corporation. It most notably owns Photobucket and MySpace.
Napoleon and Tabitha D'umo
Napoleon Buddy D'umo (born October 17, 1968) and Tabitha A. D'umo (née Cortopassi born September 11, 1973), also known as Nappytabs, are husband and wife choreographers who are often credited with developing the new style of hip-hop dance known as lyrical hip-hop. They have been working together in the dance industry since 1996 and are best known for their choreography on the TV show "So You Think You Can Dance". They were nominated for a 2009 Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography for their work on the fourth season of the show. Napoleon and Tabitha were also supervising choreographers on MTV's "America's Best Dance Crew" for the first five seasons.
Napoleon and Tabitha started their career in Las Vegas while they were still in college choreographing industrial musicals for large businesses. After moving to Los Angeles, they began teaching hip-hop dance classes and choreographing for professional basketball and football dance teams including the Orlando Magic and the Dallas Cowboys. Their career improved to choreographing music videos, commercials, movies, television shows, and concerts. Napoleon and Tabitha have worked with entertainers such as Missy Elliott, Celine Dion, Kanye West, Ricky Martin, and Jennifer Lopez. They have also choreographed for Cirque Du Soleil. In addition to choreography and teaching classes, they direct concert tours and live events and have their own dance clothing line called "Nappytabs".
While growing up in Victorville, California, Napoleon learned how to dance by traveling to Los Angeles and spending time with b-boys; he was eventually cast as an extra in the movie "Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo" in 1984. After graduating from Apple Valley High School, Napoleon joined the US military and was sent to Germany. After he was discharged from the military, he attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) where he majored in molecular biology. In college, Napoleon started taking jazz dance and modern dance classes. He eventually received a full scholarship as a member of the university's dance team.