* Barak to Gates: Keep military option on table with Iran Defense Minister Ehud Barak called on the US government to tighten the economic sanctions imposed on Iran. In a meeting with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

* Will Turkey’s religious row end in political turmoil? Will Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan return to the balcony or has the lightbulb gone out?

* Al-Qaida video calls to kill Saudi king A new video posted on an Islamist website, depicts an al-Qaida leader calling for the assassination of Saudi Arabia’s king.

* Peres: Jerusalem Needs Wall and Bridge President Shimon Peres, following Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Vice Prime Minister Chaim Ramon, has become the latest mainstream politician to intimate that Jerusalem must be divided.

* What’s Going on in Turkey? Two bombs exploded in Turkey’s commercial hub, Istanbul, on Sunday killing 17 and wounding scores more.

* NATO suspicious of Russian security pact idea Russia’s presentation of plans for a new “Treaty on European Security” at a NATO gathering on Monday (28 July) met with suspicion the scheme could undermine existing alliances.

* PA officials tell ‘Post’: PA on brink of bankruptcy The Palestinian Authority is facing a severe financial crisis due to the failure of donor countries to fulfill their pledges to fund the Palestinians.

* UN split over Darfur peace force South Africa and Libya are pushing the UN to suspend accusations against Sudan’s president, linking the issue to a Darfur peacekeeping mandate.

* Ahmadinejad blames West for AIDS Iran’s president on Tuesday blamed the US and other “big powers” for nuclear proliferation.

* Iraqis attack al-Qaeda stronghold Iraqi forces backed by American troops have launched a major operation against insurgents in the north-eastern Iraqi province of Diyala.