* Israel Lays Out Red Lines for U.S. Relationship with Iran Israel and the new U.S. administration appear to be headed on a collision course.

* PM: Israel can’t tolerate nuclear Iran Speaking to journalists before his meeting with Hillary Clinton on Tuesday evening, outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that like his designated successor Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, he, too, would raise Israel’s concerns on the Iranian nuclear issue.

* Top Iranian commander: Our missiles can hit Israeli nuclear sites Iranian missiles can reach Israeli nuclear sites, a top military commander said on Wednesday.

* Clinton: Israeli home demolitions in east J’lem ‘unhelpful’ US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday said that Israel’s demolition of Arab homes in Jerusalem had been “unhelpful” to Middle East peace efforts.

* Russian Scholar Says U.S. Will Collapse Next Year If you’re inclined to believe Igor Panarin, and the Kremlin wouldn’t mind if you did, then President Barack Obama will order martial law this year, the U.S. will split into six rump-states before 2011, and Russia and China will become the backbones of a new world order.

* China to increase defence spending by 15 percent The 14.9 per cent rise to 480.7 billion yuan (£50 billion), up 62.5 billion yuan from 2008, was announced in advance of the annual meeting of the rubber-stamp parliament, the National People’s Congress.

* Asteroid passes close to Earth You had a close encounter with a 40-yard-wide asteroid this week, but the astronomer who first spotted the large rock said it’s nothing to worry about.

* Israel to Invest 6 Million Shekels in Upcoming Visit by Pope The State of Israel plans to invest some 6 million shekels in tourism upgrades and renovations in anticipation of the upcoming visit by Pope Benedict XVI, slated for May.

* Iran urges world Muslim ‘resistance’ against Israel Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Wednesday for world Muslims to join the Palestinian “resistance” against Israel as he kicked off a two-day summit in aid of war-torn Gaza.

* ‘Peace integral to Israel-EU upgrade’ The pace of the upgrade in Israeli-EU relations depends on the next government’s plans and outlook toward the peace process.