* Syria suspected of concealing nuclear activity The International Atomic Energy Agency and Syria are walking a tightrope and appear to be headed toward a collision over two nuclear sites.

* EU foreign head dismisses critics Far from the EU choosing world-bestriding figures to carry its ambitions into the halls of power from Washington to Moscow to Beijing, it selected two almost unknowns to fill the new posts created by the Lisbon Treaty.

* ‘PM wants Syria talks without delay’ Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris last week that he wanted to launch talks with Damascus without preconditions.

* Profile: First EU President Herman van Rompuy The EU’s first permanent president, Belgian Prime Minister Herman van Rompuy, is a camera-shy man who has been catapulted from relative obscurity.

* Israel urging world on Iran sanctions Following Iran’s rejection of the latest international effort to prevent it from building nuclear weapons, Israel is urging the international community to impose sanctions aimed at denying Teheran any nuclear fuel cycle capabilities.

* Société Générale tells clients how to prepare for potential ‘global collapse’ Société Générale has advised clients to be ready for a possible “global economic collapse” over the next two years.

* 6 powers press Iran on nuclear issue Representatives of six world powers urged Iran on Friday to accept a UN plan aimed at delaying its ability to build a nuclear weapon.

* Palin: ‘Jews need a place to live’ Former US vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin disagrees with the Obama administration’s demand that Israel halt settlement construction.

* Israel to send first warship to NATO naval force Israeli and NATO officials say Israel will dispatch a warship to join a NATO naval force, marking an upgrade in ties.

* EU has one number for foreign policy The European Union on Thursday evening (19 November) said it had solved the long-standing question of whom the US secretary of state should call with foreign policy problems.