* Ex-MI Chief: NIE will enable Iran to get nukes Iran’s covert nuclear weapons program is continuing, and the American intelligence community’s misassessment of it has opened the door for Iran to achieve its nuclear ambitions.

* Putin named ‘Person of the Year’ Russian President Vladimir Putin has been named as Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year”.

* Assad: I turned down an offer to buy nuclear weapons Syrian President Bashar Assad turned down an offer to buy nuclear missiles from Pakistani weapons smugglers in 2001.

* Kurds: We will defend civilians Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq said Wednesday that their forces would defend civilians if they were caught up in any fighting between Turkish troops and Kurdish rebels.

* US not told of Turkish air strikes in n. Iraq US military commanders in Iraq didn’t know Turkey was sending warplanes to bomb in northern Iraq until the planes had already crossed the border.

* Sarkozy: I’ve reached the end of the road with Assad “I’ve reached the end of the road with (Syrian President Bashar) Assad,” French President Nicolas Sarkozy told reporters.

* Catholic leader rejects ‘Jewish state’ Israel’s identity as a Jewish state discriminates against non-Jews, the Holy Land’s top Roman Catholic clergyman said.

* Ahmadinejad takes part in the Hajj Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, joined millions of Muslims on Mount Arafat, east of Mecca, to mark the spiritual high point of the Hajj.

* Iran: Russia nuclear fuel enhances ties Russia’s first shipment of nuclear fuel for Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant will strengthen strategic ties between Tehran and Moscow.

* Part III: The Abandonment of Jewish Farmers in Judea and Samaria Human rights week in Israel heralds the publication of a plethora of reports by groups funded by the European Union and the New Israel Fund, on the alleged mistreatment of Arabs in Israel.