* ‘Turkey wants to be major ME player’ Turkey is interested in once again becoming a “central player” in talks between both Israel and the Syrians and Israel and the Palestinians.

* British Defense Secretary criticises Barack Obama over Afghanistan Bob Ainsworth, the defence secretary, has blamed Barack Obama and the United States for the decline in British public support for the war in Afghanistan.

* Lion’s Den: Islamism 2.0 – an even greater threat To borrow a computer term, if Ayatollah Khomeini, Osama bin Laden, and Nidal Hasan represent Islamism 1.0, Recep Tayyip Erdogan (the prime minister of Turkey), Tariq Ramadan (a Swiss intellectual), and Keith Ellison (a US congressman) represent Islamism 2.0.

* With all eyes on Iran, who’s watching Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal? Fear of the Iranian nuclear weapons development program has overshadowed the fact that not far from Tehran, actually right nearby, two countries, India and Pakistan, already possess nuclear weapons.

* Brussels starts work on new 10-year economic plan The European Commission launched a public consultation period on Tuesday (24 November) on a new 10-year economic plan for the European Union.

* Abbas: Obama doing nothing for peace Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday accused US President Barack Obama of doing “nothing” to achieve peace in the Middle East.

* Israel still wants own systems in F35 Israel will continue to demand that its own electronic-warfare systems be integrated into the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) fifth-generation stealth fighter jet.

* Hamas site encourages Europe attacks The educational content of the Hamas children’s Web site Al-Fateh (The Conqueror) is not a form of pedagogy.

* ‘Let us make peace,’ says PM in announcing settlement freeze Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced a ten-month settlement freeze at a Jerusalem press conference on Wednesday evening after the security cabinet approved the plan.

* Iran clerics start taking control of schools Islamic religious authorities have begun tightening their grip on Iranian public schools.