* Vice Premier: Parts of East Jerusalem should be severed from capital Vice Premier Haim Ramon (Kadima) told Army Radio on Thursday morning that Israel should treat the East Jerusalem neighborhoods of Jabel Mukaber and Zur Baher as Palestinian villages.

* Iraqi FM Says Security Pact With US ‘Almost Finalized’ Iraq’s foreign minister says his government and the United States have “almost finalized” a long-term security pact.

* ‘Strike on Iran could upset Middle East’ An Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities would be a high-risk move that could destabilize the Middle East.

* How many missiles will be fired from Iran, Syria, Lebanon in the next war? How many missiles will be fired from Iran, Syria and Lebanon against Israel in the next war?

* Turkish party rejects anti-secularism charges Turkey’s deputy prime minister defended the ruling party in the country’s top court Thursday against charges that it is steering the country toward Islamic rule.

* Poland and US reach missile defence deal The US and Poland have reached an agreement that will see sections of the American missile defence system based in the former Eastern Bloc nation.

* U.S. is in no shape to give advice, Medvedev says Russia’s new president, Dmitri Medvedev, less swaggering than his predecessor but as touchy about criticism from abroad, said in an interview that an America in “essentially a depression” was in no position to lecture other countries.

* UK foreign minister backs French defence plans UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Wednesday (2 July) backed French plans to boost European defence.