* Israel gives UN watchdog secret briefing on Iran Foreign Ministry Director General Aaron Abramovich secretly visited the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna Wednesday and briefed a group of ambassadors from countries involved in the agency’s efforts to stop Iran’s nuclear project.

* N. Korea destroys nuclear reactor tower North Korea on Friday destroyed a water cooling tower at a facility where officials acknowledge they extracted plutonium to build nuclear weapons, CNN’s Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour reported from the scene.

* World shares in further decline Key European markets have suffered declines in morning trading, following sharp falls in Asia.

* Russians and EU to seek new pact Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev and top EU officials have announced the start of talks on a new strategic partnership agreement.

* Muslim Terrorists May Be Trying To Sink the Dollar Mujahideen Muslim terrorists may be behind the sinking American dollar as part of a campaign to cripple the American economy, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) reported.

* Syrian VP: Next step may be direct talks with Israel Farouk al-Sharaa tells Al-Jazeera ‘current negotiations exploratory, meant to prepare sides for direct talks’, but qualifies this by saying talks could also remain indirect.

* Oil rises to $142 for the first time Crude oil rose to a record above $142 a barrel in New York on Friday and gold advanced as falling stock markets spurred investment in commodities.

* Israeli Breakthrough in Solar Thermal Energy An Israeli entrepreneur is harnessing the sun’s energy in an industrial park in the northern Negev, where he plans to refine the technology and then replicate it in California’s Mojave Desert.

* Special Report: Satellite Imagery Confirms Syrian Troops in Lebanon Jane’s, the publishing house specializing in military matters, has demonstrated through commercially available imagery obtained by the company from DigitalGlobe, showing Syrian troops deployed on Lebanese territory and being reinforced in early 2008.

* Haniyeh urges all Palestinian factions to honor cease-fire Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has called on all Palestinian factions to honor the cease-fire with Israel.