* ‘Annapolis is a trap set by Zionists’ The upcoming US-sponsored conference on ‘Peace in the Middle East’ is “a trap set by the Zionists” for regional states, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday evening.

* Israel reveals ‘plot to kill PM’ Palestinian militants planned to kill Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as he travelled through the West Bank, a top Israeli security official has said.

* Priestly Blessing on Temple Mount A historic first: Last week, during a special visit to the Temple Mount, the Priestly Blessing (Numbers 6:24-26) was recited there, for arguably the first time since the 1st-century destruction of the Second Temple.

* Finds on Temple Mount from First Temple The unauthorized dig of a trench this past summer by the Moslem Waqf on the Temple Mount had a thin silver lining: Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) personnel monitoring the trench-digging have, for the first time, found traces of the First Temple.

* ‘We won’t let Iran have nuclear weapon’ US Vice President Dick Cheney on Sunday reiterated the Bush administration’s insistence that Iran would not be able to acquire nuclear bombs.

* Pope decries ‘religious’ violence Pope Benedict XVI has urged world religious leaders not to allow God’s name to be used to justify violence.

* Steep decline in oil production brings risk of war and unrest, says new study World oil production has already peaked and will fall by half as soon as 2030, according to a report which also warns that extreme shortages of fossil fuels will lead to wars and social breakdown.

* Chinese party unveils new leaders China’s Communist Party has unveiled the leadership line-up that will steer the country for the next five years.

* Turkish army ambush: Eight missing Turkey’s military confirmed Monday that eight of its soldiers were still missing following a weekend ambush that killed at least 12 Turkish troops, raising the prospect of a major Turkish military incursion into northern Iraq targeting the Kurdish separatists blamed for the attack.

* Christian-Jewish group bringing dozens of Iranian Jews to Israel Evangelical Christians in the U.S. have brought dozens of Iranian Jews to Israel in recent months, offering cash incentives and claiming that Iran’s tiny Jewish community is in grave danger.