* ‘No peace in Mideast if Israel exists’ Hizbullah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah voiced his opinion on Thursday about the various peace processes currently underway in the Middle East.

* Putin defends Georgia offensive Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has made an impassioned defence of Russia’s military intervention in Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia.

* End of Abbas’s term may spell violence The IDF Central Command has held a series of exercises in recent weeks to prepare units for possible violence in the West Bank.

* No victory in Iraq, says Petraeus The outgoing commander of US troops in Iraq, Gen David Petraeus, has said that he will never declare victory there.

* Army: Settlers have crossed red line Senior IDF officers on Thursday lambasted the legal system’s inability to effectively crack down on radical West Bank settlers.

* Lack of information was top reason for Lisbon No vote Irish government research into why voters rejected the Lisbon Treaty in a June referendum has revealed that the biggest reason for voting No was citizens simply did not have enough information.

* Kadima in uproar over talks of Jlem Israel conveyed its displeasure to Washington on Thursday over remarks reportedly made by US Consul General Jacob Walles.

* Swastika Epidemic in the United States An epidemic of swastikas has spread in the United States in recent days.

* PM vows to resign as soon as new Kadima leader chosen Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Thursday that he would resign immediately after a new Kadima leader is elected.

* EU condemns OPEC oil production cut A surprise decision by OPEC, the group of major oil-exporting countries, to lower its oil production by 520,000 barrels a day has sparked criticism from the EU and the US.