* Jewish Growth in Judea/Samaria Tops the Charts The number of Jews in Judea and Samaria has grown to 313,000 – double the growth rate of the rest of Israel.

* Obama said to block attack helicopter upgrades for Israel The administration of President Barack Obama is delaying an upgrade project for Israel’s military on the grounds that it could be deployed against Palestinian militants.

* As internal pressure builds, Iran could ‘lash out’ using Hamas and Hizbullah, U.S. warns The United States has warned that Iran could use its proxies to spark a war in the Middle East as an increasingly restive Iranian population continues to challenge the regime.

* Jordan strips Palestinians’ citizenship A US-based human rights group criticized Jordan Monday for stripping the citizenship of nearly 3,000 Jordanians of Palestinian origin in recent years.

* Iran’s Mousavi says he will continue fight for reform Iran’s opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi has said he will continue his struggle against the government.

* US anti-missile test of ‘Iran or N Korea’ attack fails A US missile defence test designed to shoot down long-range missiles was aborted when the radar system failed.

* Pope criticised for attack on UK Equality Bill The Pope has faced a backlash after urging Catholic bishops in England and Wales to fight the UK’s Equality Bill with “missionary zeal”.

* PMW: Jihad Boy Featured on PA TV A new Palestinian Authority TV news report revealed by Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) shows a young child vowing to “liberate Palestine” – “with our weapons.”

* Mitchell to Abbas: No more excuses, renew Mideast talks United States special Mideast envoy George Mitchell has urged Europe to step up pressure on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

* Berlusconi ‘dreams’ of Israel becoming an EU member Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi began a three-day tour of Israel on Monday (1 February) by saying he wants the Jewish state to join the EU.