* France follows Britain and US in shutting Yemen embassy France has become the third Western nation to shut its Yemen embassy, after threats from an al-Qaeda offshoot, the foreign ministry in Paris announced.

* Recent change of atmosphere may mean time is ripe for talks Peace talks with the Palestinians must resume without preconditions, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said.

* Abbas demands full settlement halt Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas stuck by his demand Monday for a complete halt in West Bank settlement building before resuming peace talks with Israel.

* Arab MK: Settlers are a malignant tumor A verbal spat erupted at the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee when MK Taleb A-Sanaa called settlers “a malignant tumor,” setting off a flurry of furious reactions from the assembled MKs.

* MK Rotem: If Settlements are Cancer I Hope it Grows and PA Dies The Knesset received additional doses of radical anti-Zionist rhetoric from Arab representatives Monday.

* Iraq De-Judaizing Ezekiel’s Tomb Early reports that Iraq plans to retain the Jewish nature of the Tomb of the Prophet Ezekiel are apparently false. Sources in Baghdad say that the government plans to turn it into a mosque and erase all Jewish markings.

* Dubai to open world’s tallest building The world’s tallest building is being opened in the Gulf emirate of Dubai.

* Iran’s Opposition Braces for Next Round After Protests Faced with escalating turmoil, Iran’s newly militarized regime now appears to be turning to the Tiananmen model to ensure its survival.

* Destructive tsunami crashes over Solomon Islands A tsunami unleashed by a major earthquake plowed into the Solomon Islands on Monday with the crashing waters devastating at least one village.

* Jordan is helping CIA in Afghanistan One of the victims of a fatal attack on a CIA base in Afghanistan last week was a Jordanian intelligence official.