* Iran lifts ban on UN nuclear inspectors Iran has lifted its ban on visits to a nuclear facility by UN experts and will now allow them to inspect the site.

* PM Olmert: Syria’s Assad wants talks, but only with Washington Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met Wednesday in Tel Aviv with ambassadors of European Union countries to Israel.

* World Bank says Gaza may face ‘irreversible’ collapse The World Bank said on Thursday the prolonged closure of Israel’s border crossings with Hamas-controlled Gaza could lead to the coastal strip’s “irreversible” economic collapse.

* Report: India, Israel to jointly develop $2.47b. missile system India and Israel will jointly develop a new generation of medium-range surface-to-air missiles in a $2.47 billion project.

* Lebanon camp under heavy shelling The Lebanese army has continued shelling Fatah al-Islam positions in a refugee camp near Triopli.

* Ethiopian aliya enters its final year Dressed in shiny new shoes and suits, and in traditional white cotton clothing, 90 Falash Mura immigrants arrived from Ethiopia Thursday morning to start their new lives.

* Huge telescope set to scour skies One of the world’s largest optical telescopes is set to peer into space for the first time.

* France: Hizbullah not a terror group Hizbullah is part of Lebanese politics and must not be regarded as a terror organization, said the French Foreign Ministry.

* House passes bill to bring troops home in ’08 The House of Representatives voted 223-201 Thursday to require most U.S. troops to leave Iraq by April 1, 2008.

* Russia sticks to its opposition on Kosovo Russia has rejected the latest attempt by EU and US diplomats to outline a compromise UN resolution on the future status of Kosovo.