* Palestinians reject Quartet demands Representatives of the new Palestinian unity government have said they will reject the Middle East Quartet’s offer.

* PM: Israel ready for painful concessions Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Thursday that Israel was willing to make “sweeping, painful and tough concessions” to encourage dialogue with its enemies.

* Legal limbo in Kosovo could trigger chaos, EU warns The Balkans could plunge into chaos unless there is a prompt United Nations agreement on the final status of Serbia’s breakaway province of Kosovo.

* Bolton: N. Korea, Iran will never give up nuke ambitions Former US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton criticized the US government for releasing $25 million to North Korea.

* Freed Sadr aide meets Iraq’s PM An Iraqi militia leader once branded a major security threat has appeared in public alongside Iraq’s prime minister after being freed from US custody.

* Rice to press Olmert to continue talks US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to press Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to continue holding talks about a “political horizon” with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

* Kurds prosper in post-Saddam era Compared with most other parts of Iraq, the Kurds in the north of the country are doing very well for themselves, enjoying greater security and relative prosperity than most other places.

* Japan’s FM: Japan doing what US can’t Japan’s outspoken foreign minister said “blue-eyed, blond” Westerners probably would not be as successful as the Japanese in Middle East diplomacy.

* Dubai becomes Iran’s business hub “Dubai is the most Iranian of cities,” said Mohammed Reza, an Iranian expatriate who has lived in the Gulf emirate across the waters from the Islamic republic since 1998.

* Solana urged to stand firm on PA More than half of the US House of Representatives sent a letter to EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.