* Egypt urges Palestinian unity agreement Egyptian moderators want a power-sharing agreement between the various Palestinian factions by Saturday.

* Arab leaders ‘clear the air’ in Riyadh Saudi Arabia hosted the leaders of Egypt and Syria on Wednesday, in an effort to persuade Damascus to move away from Iran.

* Has the Arab-Israeli Conflict Morphed into the Arab-Israeli-Persian Conflict? Is the Arab-Israeli peace process salvageable? That question was raised Tuesday at a luncheon discussion hosted by the Nixon Center in Washington.

* ‘PA gov’t must take Quartet benchmarks’ A Palestinian unity government that does not recognize Israel, renounce terrorism or accept previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements is one the US will not be able to accept.

* Artificial life ‘could be created within five years’ Prof David Deamer, from California University, said although building a new lifeform from scratch is a daunting task he is confident it can happen in five to 10 years.

* Gates: More preemptive strikes unlikely Any future US president will likely be more cautious about launching a preemptive strike against another country following the failure to find evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

* Increased Number Think Global Warming Is “Exaggerated” Although a majority of Americans believe the seriousness of global warming is either correctly portrayed in the news or underestimated, a record-high 41% now say it is exaggerated.

* Central Asia’s Complex Geopolitics U.S./NATO supply lines through Pakistan to Afghanistan have come under increasing attack.

* Sarkozy announces France’s return to NATO French president Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday (11 March) announced the return of his country to the military structures of NATO.

* China demands end of US Navy surveillance China’s Defense Ministry has demanded that the US Navy end surveillance missions off the country’s southern coast.