* Russian FM tells visiting Abbas he has Moscow’s firm support Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Monday that Moscow supports him in his conflict with Hamas.

* An ‘Intel Gap’: What We’re Missing Six years after 9/11 , U.S. intel officials are complaining about the emergence of a major “gap” in their ability to secretly eavesdrop on suspected terrorist plotters.

* US envoy accuses Saudis on Iraq The US ambassador at the UN, Zalmay Khalilzad, has accused Saudi Arabia of undermining efforts to stabilise Iraq.

* J’lem wary of US arms sale to Saudis Despite the significant increase in US military aid to Israel, defense officials warned Sunday that the sale of satellite-guided missiles to Saudi Arabia had the potential to constitute a strategic threat to the state of Israel.

* Reports: Iran to buy jets from Russia Israel is looking into reports that Russia plans to sell 250 advanced long-range Sukhoi-30 fighter jets to Iran in an unprecedented billion-dollar deal.

* Coalition of Evangelicals Voices Support for Palestinian State In recent years, conservative evangelicals who claim a Biblical mandate to protect Israel have built a bulwark of support for the Jewish nation – sending donations, denouncing its critics and urging it not to evacuate settlements or forfeit territory.

* Nasrallah: War destroyed US’s new ME The outcome of last summer’s war between Israel and Hizbullah has left the American vision of a “new Middle East” in shambles, Hizbullah’s leader told a south Lebanon rally late Saturday.

* Another Islam-Christian Blow-Up on the Horizon? “While Christians respect Islam and desire to dialogue with Muslims,” Pope Benedict XVI’s private secretary says, “[we] must act to protect the Christian identity of Europe.”

* Russia subs make Arctic test dive Two Russian mini-subs have made a test dive to the floor of the Arctic Ocean near Russia’s most northerly islands.

* Poll Finds Opposition to Withdrawals, and More Some 60% of Jews in Israel feel that the uprooting of Jews from Gush Katif and northern Shomron was an error – while only 18% support a similar move in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.