* Cheney to Iran: US will keep sea open From an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf, US Vice President Dick Cheney warned Iran that the US and its allies will keep it from restricting sea traffic as well as from developing nuclear weapons.

* Russia clinches gas pipeline deal Russia, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan have agreed to build a new natural gas pipeline north from the Caspian Sea.

* Iraq missing up to $15 million of oil daily report says Between $5-million and $15-million worth of oil a day is unaccounted for in Iraq and could have been siphoned off through corruption or smuggling.

* Jordan’s king to meet Abbas in W. Bank Jordan’s King Abdullah II will meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.

* Serbia back on EU course, Brussels says Serbia has taken a significant step on the road to EU membership, Brussels said after the country’s reform- and Europe-oriented parties ended a three-month election deadlock and agreed to form a new government.

* Peres says Israel ready for ‘serious’ Arab peace talks Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres said Saturday that Israel is ready for serious discussions with Arab nations over a revived proposal for peace with the Jewish state.

* Brown reviews strategy on Iraq Gordon Brown plans to fly to Iraq to review British policy and troop numbers after using the launch of his leadership campaign yesterday to try to make a decisive break with the Blair era.

* Hamas’ Mickey Mouse back on air A weekly children’s show on a Hamas-run TV station, featuring a Mickey Mouse lookalike preaching Islamic domination, was broadcast as usual Friday, despite an earlier announcement by the Palestinian information minister that it would be pulled off the air for a review.

* Nasrallah: Arab peace plan is lifeline for Olmert Hizbullah leader says Saudi peace initiative rescues Israel from difficult situation after last summer’s “defeat”

* Palestinian gov’t officials deny Abbas will meet Olmert in Petra Senior Palestinian government officials denied on Saturday reports of an expected three-way meeting in Jordan between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, and King Abdullah II, maintaining that Abbas does not intend to come to Petra.