* Obama backs Saudi peace initiative US President Barack Obama reiterated his support for the Saudi Mideast peace initiative in a meeting with King Abdullah on Thursday night.

* G20 radically strengthens IMF in ‘new era’ World leaders mixed hubris and humility on Thursday evening (2 April) as they sought to highlight the achievements of the G20 meeting of industrial nations.

* S. Korea Prepares For ‘Almost Certain’ Rocket Launch by North The final hours may be ticking away to a long-range rocket launch by North Korea.

* NATO summit kicks off amid protests European, US and Canadian leaders were set to meet on Friday for the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s 60th anniversary summit in Strasbourg.

* US says will push hard for Palestinian statehood The United States will push hard for Palestinian statehood despite a new rightist government in Israel but anticipates a rough road ahead.

* Wobbly Czech presidency prepares for EU-US summit US President Barack Obama’s European peregrination will see him stop in Prague this weekend to talk with EU leaders on Afghanistan and climate change.

* Obama: Europe faces greater terror threat than U.S. Europe is more vulnerable to terrorist attack than the United States, U.S. President Barack Obama said Friday as he arrived in France for a two-day NATO Summit.

* Support for Two States Waning A poll conducted recently among Palestinian Authority Arabs showed that support for a “two state solution” is waning.

* Lower Oil Price May Test Iraqi Sunni Loyalty A drop in the price of oil is not alway good news.

* US Affairs: Unsettling buzz The Obama administration has been taking advantage of the unusually long Israeli political interlude to bat away questions about how it will deal with a Binyamin Netanyahu-led coalition.