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Clockwise from top: Al-Ayyam and Al-Quds of Palestine mourning the death of veteran Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish; the US turns its back against the blow Russia dealt Georgia while South Ossetia seeks the protection of Russia, by Gihad in Al-Watan of the KSA; Israel and the US set the world ablaze, by Hassan Idalbe in the UAE's Al-Bayan

"Torture in Egypt is 500 years old and it cannot be eradicated in a couple of years." -- Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Al-Masry Al-Yom

"The American flag is illustrated on Egyptian slippers," -- Al-Masry Al-Yom

"Many a minister have yachts and rent them for LE5,000 per day," -- Sawt Al-Umma

"China shows off its illustrious past and promising present with the mesmerising opening of the Beijing Olympic Games," -- Al-Ahram

"If we link Ashkenazi's slip of the tongue to Barak's threat and the ongoing Israeli media efforts to display the horrors committed in Gaza, we perceive a planned preparation for the invasion of the Strip." -- Jihad Al-Khazen, Al-Hayat

"Arab oil wealth has still not been converted into political power." -- Patrick Seale, Al-Hayat

"The Palestinian leaders should be ashamed of bragging about their empty rhetoric and bravado, and should pay attention to addressing the harsh living conditions of approximately three million refugees." Abdul-Rahman Al-Rashed, Asharq Al-Awsat