This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com.

Israel’s airport gears up for ‘Welcome to Palestine’ activists

Israeli police deploy at Tel Aviv airport on Thursday

Israel braced on Thursday for the anticipated arrival of hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, by boosting the police presence. The activists are planning to participate in what they say is a peaceful event dubbed “Welcome to Palestine,” designed to highlight conditions in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Washington Post

Israel and Turkey make amends before report on last year’s flotilla

The United Nations on Thursday agreed to postpone until July 27 publication of a report on the confrontation between Israel’s armed forces and last year’s “Freedom Flotilla.” The confrontation, which occurred on May 31, 2010, resulted in the deaths of nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists. The document reportedly will say that Israeli forces acted lawfully, though using disproportionate force, and is expected to criticize Turkey’s support for the seaborne provocation. Israel has said it would agree to a softening of the report’s criticisms of Turkey in return for a normalization of relations between the two countries. Washington Times

Iran increases arms shipments to Shia militants in Iraq

As American troops make preparations to leave Iraq by the end of the year, Iran is stepping up its support for Shia militants, supplying them with more sophisticated weapons. According to Admiral Mike Mullen, Iran had made a decision to curtail its support for Shia factions in 2008, but has now increased its activity in Iraq, sending in lethal arms that were being used against American forces. “Iran is very directly supporting extremist troops which are killing our troops,” he said on Thursday. AFP

Nato forces attack Libya’s oil facilities

Nato forces attacked Libya’s oil facilities for the first time in this humanitarian kinetic military action, in an attempt to starve Muammar Gaddafi’s army of fuel. The airstrikes were on the complex at Brega, one of the countries’ biggest petrochemical complexes and port for export, and currently under control of the Gaddafi regime forces. The bombing, however, could be seen as a risky strategy for Nato, which has insisted that its forces are avoiding targeting infrastructure. Independent

President Saleh of Yemen makes startling TV appearance

Ali Abdullah Saleh before (right) and after (Al-Jazeera)

Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh, his face burned and his hands covered with bandages, made a startling appearance on TV on Thursday, for the first time since he was wounded in a bomb attack on June 3 in his palace in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa. Saleh, who was hospitalised in Saudi Arabia after the June 3 attack, said he had undergone “more than eight successful operations.” He appeared to be “defeated in some way” and “a more conciliatory figure.” He indicated that he would remain as president, and that he welcomed power sharing as long as it was within the country’s constitutional framework. Al-Jazeera

Ethnic violence in Karachi, Pakistan, takes 70 lives in three days

There were 34 more people mowed down in ethnic violence in Karachi, Pakistan, on Thursday, in an escalation that has taken the lives of 70 people in three days. Scores of people have received gunshot wounds inside their houses. While law enforcement agencies seem “toothless”, citizens prefer to stay at home for fear of further armed attacks. Daily Times

Pakistan denies North Korean bribe in exchange for nuclear technology

In documents obtained by the Washington Post, Abdul Qadeer Khan (AQ Khan), the founder of Pakistan’s nuclear program, says that North Korea bribed senior Pakistan military officers in the late 1990s, paying over $3 million to smuggle sensitive nuclear technology into North Korea. A Pakistani general named in the documents strongly denied on Thursday the report, while Pakistan’s foreign office called the story “preposterous.” Washington Post and Dawn (Pakistan)