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Daybreak: Abbas Takes His Case on the Road

Plus Bibi’s new land grab, and more in the news

by
Marc Tracy
October 11, 2011
President Abbas lands in Bogotá Sunday.(Luis Acosta/AFP/Getty Images)
President Abbas lands in Bogotá Sunday.(Luis Acosta/AFP/Getty Images)

• Palestinian President Abbas is in Colombia, lobbying for support for U.N. membership. Colombia currently sits on the Security Council, and is one of the only Latin American countries not fully onboard. [LAT]

• Next, he heads for Paris. [AP/WP]

• Responding to anger from the right at the demolishment of some outposts, Prime Minister Netanyahu is seeking legal ways to legitimize the building of certain settlement buildings on Palestinian-owned land. [Haaretz]

• Sanctions are beginning to significantly slow the Syrian economy, in turn putting real pressure on the Assad regime. [NYT]

• The military budget is becoming a political football as the government seeks money to pay for the new social reforms passed in the wake of the tent protests. [JPost]

• One Palestinian was killed in an unidentified blast in northern Gaza. Was not clear whether there was an airstrike or an accidental detonation. [AP/WP]

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.