* ‘Obama seeks Russian deal on Iran’ US President Barack Obama suggested to Russian President Dmitri Medvedev that the United States would back off plans for a missile defense system in Eastern Europe in exchange for help stopping Iran from developing long-range weapons.

* US Israel support ‘unshakeable’ US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has restated “unshakeable” support for Israel, whatever type of government emerges from current coalition talks.

* Saudi urges joint Arab strategy on Iran Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal called on Tuesday for a joint Arab strategy to deal with the “Iranian challenge”.

* BGU combats nuclear proliferation Ben-Gurion University of the Negev engineers have developed a practical technique to “denature” plutonium created in large nuclear reactors.

* Vatican hosts Darwin conference The Vatican is sponsoring a five day conference to mark the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species.

* Gulf TV in Hebrew seeks to educate Israelis on Islam Leaders of the Support Prophet Mohammed Organization, based in the Gulf state Bahrain, stressed on Sunday the need to establish a TV channel in Hebrew to teach Israelis about Islam’s values.

* Russia to deliver armored vehicles to PA Russia’s foreign minister reportedly says Moscow will soon deliver 50 armored vehicles to the Palestinian Authority.

* Clinton: Two-state solution is in Israel’s best interest U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledged on Tuesday to press hard for Palestinian statehood.

* Southeast Asian countries plan EU-style union by 2015 The leaders of ten Southeast Asian countries have signed a declaration to integrate their economies and construct an economic and political union modelled on that of the European Union by 2015.

* Iraq struggles with spending plan as oil dips Iraqi lawmakers struggled Tuesday to hammer out spending plans that could include additional cuts in reconstruction and military purchases because of falling oil prices.