Merkel Calls for Stronger U.S.-EU Ties Angela Merkel is at the top of her game. After a rocky start, the German Chancellor has achieved international respect on the back of a solid domestic economic rebound.

Livni and Abbas to meet at Davos Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet on Thursday.

Hamas survives one year of power A year after coming to power in the Palestinian territories, the Hamas government is claiming a grim kind of the victory.

Berlin lays down tight negotiation timetable for constitution Germany has laid out a detailed timetable for negotiations on the EU constitution.

Lebanon pleads for world support Lebanon has appealed to foreign donors for further financial aid towards its reconstruction following last year’s conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

Worried about Iraq, Saudi official heads for Iran talks Saudi Arabia’s National Security Council (NSC) Secretary Bandar bin Sultan is due to visit Teheran.

Putin set for arms, energy talks Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in India for talks expected to focus on multi-billion dollar arms and energy contracts.

Bethlehem Christians fear neighbors A number of Christian families have finally decided to break their silence and talk openly about what they describe as Muslim persecution of the Christian minority.

Military Ray Gun Makes People Feel Like They’re on Fire The weapon is not expected to go into production until at least 2010, but all branches of the military have expressed interest in it.

China economy records huge growth China’s economy expanded by 10.7% in 2006, marking the fastest growth since 1995, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said.