"It's just that in this case, both the main route and the backup route got cut for a lot of companies."

The lines that tie the globe together by carrying phone calls and Internet traffic are just two-thirds of an inch thick where they lie on the ocean floor. via The Jersey Journal

"As the banner was posted ... by a webmaster of the forum, it seems as if the announcement of his death has been confirmed to the forum administrators"

CAIRO, Egypt - Abu Laith al-Libi, a top al Qaeda commander in Afghanistan who was blamed for bombing a base while Vice President Dick Cheney was visiting last year, has been killed, according to a militant Web ... via Detroit Free Press

Not quite. But Dubai has an unusually large population of Bugatti Veyrons, as published in a press-release-style article in Emirates Business newspaper. Out of 125 Veyrons delivered to customers worldwide, Dubai alone has 15. While the article simply mentions numbers, a simple calculation reveals that tiny Dubai has a massive 12% of the world’s Veyrons. [...]

Israeli papers see Prime Minister Ehud Olmert surviving in the wake of the Winograd report, but give a mixed verdict on the report itself.

Israeli officials in Egypt to enlist its help in ending the Palestinian exodus from the Gaza Strip were told they created the problem, an Arabic newspaper said. via The Post Chronicle

Disruption to internet services in south Asia and the Middle East continues after undersea cable damage.

Israeli troops shoot dead an armed Palestinian in the southern Gaza Strip, near Israel's border fence.

"This is a dangerous legal precedent that allows Israel to continue to violate the rights of Gaza residents and deprive them of basic humanitarian needs in violation of international law"

The Israeli Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the government's decision to slash fuel and electricity supplies to the Gaza Strip. via CJAD

JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 30 -- Buoyed by recent advances in women's rights, advocates for the right of women to drive in Saudi Arabia -- the only country in the world that prohibits female drivers -- say they believe the ban will be lifted this year.

BAGHDAD, Jan. 30 -- Senior U.S. military commanders here say they want to freeze troop reductions starting this summer for at least a month, making it more likely that the next administration will inherit as many troops in Iraq as there were before President Bush announced a "surge" of forces a y...