* Syria threatens to hit Dimona reactor “If Syria feels threatened by Israel, it will be hard to stop our missile operators from responding to the Israeli aggression by attacking the Dimona nuclear reactor.”

* Saudis ‘foil hajj attack plot’ Saudi Arabia has arrested a group of men said to have been planning a “terrorist act” during the annual Muslim pilgrimage.

* ‘Ditch nuke program, then we’ll talk’ US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday she was ready to meet her Iranian counterpart if Teheran abandoned its nuclear ambitions.

* Sarkozy warns of Taleban threat French President Nicolas Sarkozy has warned the international community must not let Afghanistan fall into the hands of extremists like the Taleban.

* Hamas weighing unconditional truce with Israel A senior Hamas official In Gaza said that his organization may offer Israel an unconditional truce in the Strip.

* Tony Blair joins Catholic faith Former PM Tony Blair has converted from the Anglican to the Catholic Church.

* UN: PA donors’ conference is step towards Palestinian state The United Nations Security Council called this week’s Palestinian Authority donors conference a “strong signal of support for the Palestinian people”.

* Zawahiri’s e-town meetings Ayman al-Zawahiri, the al-Qaida leader who is nominally Osama bin Laden’s deputy, is holding an on-line version of the town meetings that have become such a feature of the American political campaign.

* EU marks ‘historical’ enlargement of borderless zone The EU’s borderless zone expanded to nine mostly eastern European countries at midnight on Friday (21 December) in its biggest enlargement so far.

* Hizbullah deputy leader blasts Bush Hizbullah denounced US President George W. Bush for urging Lebanon’s anti-Syrian lawmakers to push through their own choice for president if necessary to resolve a long political deadlock.