* IAEA chief lashes out over Israeli raid in Syria Mohamed ElBaradei accuses Jewish state of ‘taking the law into its own hands’, says ‘if countries have information that another country is working on a nuclear-related program, they should come to us’.

* Iraq warns Turkey over incursion Iraq’s foreign minister has warned of serious consequences if Turkey launches a ground assault against Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq.

* Livni pushes China to break with Iran Countries must unite in preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons technology, even if that clashes with their own narrow economic interests, Israel’s foreign minister said Monday.

* Abbas: Hamas planning W. Bank takeover Hamas is planning to overthrow the Palestinian Authority government in the West Bank with the help of external forces, PA President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday.

* Holy dispute Dore Gold, former Israeli ambassador to the UN and Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs president, has a stern warning for the religious faithful.

* Iraq’s vulnerable Christian minority gets promise of support Iraq’s prime minister pledged Saturday to protect and support the Christian minority that has been fleeing the chaos and sectarian violence in the country.

* Much of U.S. Could See a Water Shortage An epic drought in Georgia threatens the water supply for millions.

* US hands over Karbala to Iraqis US forces have handed control of the mainly Shia province of Karbala in central Iraq to local authorities in a tightly-guarded ceremony.

* EU warns Israel not to impose ‘collective punishment’ in Gaza The European Union cautioned Israel on Monday against imposing “collective punishment” against the 1.5 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip by cutting of delivery of fuel supplies to the territory.

* Saudi king chides UK on terrorism Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has accused Britain of not doing enough to fight international terrorism, which he says could take 20 or 30 years to beat.

* PM: Israel won’t cause ‘crisis’ in Gaza Prime Minister Ehud Olmert promised Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday that he would not cause a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

* Zahar: Hamas not planning attack ahead of Annapolis summit Top Hamas leader, Mahmoud Zahar, denied Saturday that his organization was planning a large attack against Israel in order to sabotage the upcoming Annapolis summit.

* Putin compares US shield to Cuba Russian President Vladimir Putin has compared US plans for a missile shield in Europe to the Cuban missile crisis of the 1960s.

* Biofuels ‘crime against humanity’ A United Nations expert has condemned the growing use of crops to produce biofuels as a replacement for petrol as a crime against humanity.

* ‘Guard’ controls embassy in Baghdad Iran’s Revolutionary Guard is using Iran’s Embassy in Baghdad to coordinate covert operations in Iraq, an Iranian opposition group has claimed.

* Turkey rejects Iraq’s PKK offer Turkey has dismissed a range of proposals from Iraq on dealing with Kurdish rebels, saying they will take too long to work.

* Rice confers with Carter and Clinton US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has sought the advice of former US presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.

* Turkey anger at Europe over PKK Turkey’s PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticised EU nations for not doing more to tackle activists from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

* Oil Retreats From $92 on Profit-Taking Crude futures rose to record levels on Friday, supported by worries over political tensions in the Middle East.

* ‘Australia, others will punish Iran’ Australia says ‘many nations will follow the US’ in imposing sanctions on Tehran.

* PM, Abbas try to hammer out differences ahead of ME parley Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Friday promised Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that Israel would not cause a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

* Majadle: I didn’t express gov’t’s view “I was not representing the government’s view. I have told you on more than one occasion that I am the different voice, the other voice in the government and this is an important thing in a democratic society,” Culture, Science and Sport Minister Ghaleb Majadle told Israel Radio Friday.

* Iran defiant at new US sanctions Iran has responded defiantly to new sanctions imposed by the US targeting Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps and three state-owned banks.

* Syria air strike target ‘removed’ Newly-released satellite images of the presumed site of an Israeli air raid on Syria last month suggest that a large building has been completely removed.

* Disputes loom at EU-Russia talks The European Union has begun talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a summit the bloc hopes will remove some obstacles towards a co-operation pact.

* Turkey and Iraq in crisis talks With tensions running high, a high-powered Iraqi delegation is holding talks in Ankara in a fresh bid to avert any imminent Turkish strike.

* Oil spikes at $92 on supply fears Crude oil prices spiked above $92 a barrel Friday on tensions in the Middle East and renewed concerns about supply.

* ‘Gaza power cuts could lead to escalation’ Senior security source expresses fear that defense minister’s decision to limit power supplies to Strip will boost terror organization’s motivation to fire rockets.

* Abbas: ‘Israel and Hamas have been meeting’ Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the capital on Friday.

* US dollar touches a new euro low The US dollar tumbled to yet another new low against the euro, as speculation mounted that US interest rates would be cut again next week.

* ‘Western Wall was never part of temple’ The former mufti of Jerusalem, Ikrema Sabri, has made the claim that there never was a Jewish temple on the Temple Mount, and the Western Wall was really part of a mosque.

* Lebanon fires on IAF jets for first time since cease-fire Lebanese troops opened fire Thursday on IAF warplanes flying low over southern Lebanon, but no hits were reported, Lebanese officials said.

* Google Earth used to target Israel Palestinian militants are using Google Earth to help plan their attacks on the Israeli military and other targets, the Guardian has learned.

* US to announce new sanctions on Iran The Bush administration is ready to roll out a package of new sanctions against Iran aimed particularly at the Revolutionary Guard Corps and its Quds Force, which US officials have accused of stirring up trouble in Iraq and elsewhere, according to published reports.

* Key discussions on Kurdish crisis A high-level Iraqi delegation is expected in Ankara for key talks aimed at stopping attacks by Kurdish fighters based in northern Iraq.

* China beats Germany to take world trade crown China has surged ahead of Germany for the first time to become the world’s top exporter, prompting ever louder demands from the United States and Europe to revalue the yuan.

* Cabinet Minister Announces Sanctions Against Gaza Defense Minister Ehud Barak is set to approve Thursday sanctions upon Palestinian Authority-controlled Gaza.

* Political Activist Banned From Judea and Samaria Yekutiel Ben-Yaakov, a political activist known for his outspoken views in favor of Jewish sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, was expelled for three months from his home in the town of Tapuach on Monday.

* Rice: Mideast peace plan in jeopardy US secretary of state tells House committee ‘without a serious political prospect for the Palestinians we will lose the window for a two-state solution’; blames Iran for fanning flames in the region.

* Commission challenges France on Turkish membership talks The European Commission has said membership negotiations with Turkey should be expanded in the coming weeks, challenging France’s stance that such a decision should wait until a “committee of wise men” has been set up to discuss the future of the European Union.

* Ayalon: Invite Hamas to Annapolis parley Minister-without-portfolio Ami Ayalon (Labor) is urging Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to end Israel’s boycott of Hamas and invite representatives of the group to a US-sponsored peace parley scheduled to take place in Annapolis, Maryland, in late autumn.

* ‘Syria was preparing for Israeli attack’ Syria was preparing for a large-scale Israeli attack some two weeks ago, the Al-Khaleej newspaper, published in the United Arab Emirates, reported Wednesday.

* China launches first Moon orbiter China has launched its first lunar orbiter, on a planned year-long exploration mission to the Moon.

* Bin Laden calls for jihad against Darfur peacekeepers Al-Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden called for a holy war against a proposed peacekeeping force in Sudan’s war torn region of Darfur in a message that appeared on jihadi Web sites on Tuesday.

* EU urges Turkey to think twice before Iraq action The EU’s Portuguese presidency Wednesday urged Turkey to think twice before launching military action in northern Iraq, following deadly attacks on Turkish troops from Kurdish rebels in the region.

* Turkey ‘hits PKK targets in Iraq’ Turkish forces have carried out a number of limited sorties inside northern Iraq to attack Kurdish fighters during recent days, according to military sources.

* Report: ‘World at peak oil output’ The world has reached the point of maximum oil output and production levels will halve by 2030 — a situation that will eventually lead to war and disaster, a report claims.

* Israel works on plan to cut power supplies to Gaza Israeli officials prepared a plan on Wednesday to cut power supplies to the Gaza Strip in response to a surge in Palestinian cross-border rocket attacks.

* Bill Calling For Jew-Free Hevron Met With One to Evict Arabs The far-left Meretz party submitted a bill Wednesday calling for removing all Jews from Hevron, the city of the Biblical Jewish patriarchs and matriarchs.

* Arsonists torch Jerusalem church There were no injuries reported in the midnight blaze at the Baptist Church on Narkis Street, but the interior of the downtown Jerusalem church was lightly to moderately damaged by the fire, Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said.

By: Ashley Seager – Guardian News and Media Limited

World oil production has already peaked and will fall by half as soon as 2030, according to a report which also warns that extreme shortages of fossil fuels will lead to wars and social breakdown.

Read more….

* Meridor: We must be ready to preempt threats Israeli Ambassador to the US Sallai Meridor declared Monday that Israel should always be prepared “to preempt, to deter and to defeat if we can”.

* Dr. Mazar: PM’s Office Complicit in Temple Mount Destruction Well-known archaeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar of Hebrew University told Arutz Sheva Radio that she sees the recent revelation of First Temple artifacts on the Temple Mount as further proof of what she called the Antiquities Authority’s “criminal behavior.”

* Brown says he backs further sanctions against Iran British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Tuesday that his government would seek further sanctions against Iran through the United Nations and the European Union.

* Turkey wins Iraq backing on PKK Turkey and Iraq have agreed to work together to deal with the problem of Kurdish PKK rebels in northern Iraq.

* ‘Be prepared to fight any aggression’ Syrian Chief of General Staff Ali Habib on Monday called on his country’s pilots to be prepared to fight against any possible attack.

* First names floated for top new EU jobs Although the ink on the new EU treaty deal is barely dry, several names are already being floated as possible candidates for the European Union’s first-ever president.

* “Save Jerusalem” Emergency Coalition Forms An unprecedented coalition of American Jewish groups has formed on short notice to ensure that united Jerusalem remains Jewish.

* Bin Laden issues Iraq message Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader, has released a new audiotape calling on fighters in Iraq to unite.

* China to test space weapon in launching moon satellite: rights group+ Chinese submarine will send test signals that could change the course of a satellite when China launches its first moon orbiter.

* International troika ups efforts to break Kosovo deadlock With a December deadline looming, diplomats from the EU, Russia and the US presented both Serbian and Kosovar leaders with proposals for a compromise solution.

* ‘Annapolis is a trap set by Zionists’ The upcoming US-sponsored conference on ‘Peace in the Middle East’ is “a trap set by the Zionists” for regional states, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday evening.

* Israel reveals ‘plot to kill PM’ Palestinian militants planned to kill Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as he travelled through the West Bank, a top Israeli security official has said.

* Priestly Blessing on Temple Mount A historic first: Last week, during a special visit to the Temple Mount, the Priestly Blessing (Numbers 6:24-26) was recited there, for arguably the first time since the 1st-century destruction of the Second Temple.

* Finds on Temple Mount from First Temple The unauthorized dig of a trench this past summer by the Moslem Waqf on the Temple Mount had a thin silver lining: Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) personnel monitoring the trench-digging have, for the first time, found traces of the First Temple.

* ‘We won’t let Iran have nuclear weapon’ US Vice President Dick Cheney on Sunday reiterated the Bush administration’s insistence that Iran would not be able to acquire nuclear bombs.

* Pope decries ‘religious’ violence Pope Benedict XVI has urged world religious leaders not to allow God’s name to be used to justify violence.

* Steep decline in oil production brings risk of war and unrest, says new study World oil production has already peaked and will fall by half as soon as 2030, according to a report which also warns that extreme shortages of fossil fuels will lead to wars and social breakdown.

* Chinese party unveils new leaders China’s Communist Party has unveiled the leadership line-up that will steer the country for the next five years.

* Turkish army ambush: Eight missing Turkey’s military confirmed Monday that eight of its soldiers were still missing following a weekend ambush that killed at least 12 Turkish troops, raising the prospect of a major Turkish military incursion into northern Iraq targeting the Kurdish separatists blamed for the attack.

* Christian-Jewish group bringing dozens of Iranian Jews to Israel Evangelical Christians in the U.S. have brought dozens of Iranian Jews to Israel in recent months, offering cash incentives and claiming that Iran’s tiny Jewish community is in grave danger.

* ‘Iran capable of firing 11,000 rockets into bases if attacked’ Iran is capable of firing 11,000 rockets into enemy bases within the first minute after any possible attack.

* Pakistan rejects Bhutto accusations Pakistan’s deputy information minister has dismissed accusations that officials may have been complicit in an attempt to kill Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister.

* ‘Syria dismantling nuclear facility’ Syria has begun dismantling the remains of a what American and foreign officials suspect was a nuclear facility targeted by Israel in an air strike in September.

* Talabani chides Syria over Kurds Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has criticised Syria for its support for a possible Turkish intervention against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq.

* ‘Israel had mole inside Syrian facility’ Israel obtained detailed photographs from inside an alleged Syrian nuclear facility prior to carrying out an air strike on September 6.

* Blair gets early backing in race to be EU’s first president Tony Blair, the Mideast envoy for the Quartet, got early backing from the British and French leaders at the end of an EU summit on Friday to become the European Union’s first-ever full-time president.

* Ahmadinejad accepts Larijani resignation The top negotiator of Iran’s controversial nuclear program, Ali Larijani, has resigned, the country’s government spokesman said.

* G7 concerned over global growth Finance officials from the rich nations have warned that recent financial market upheaval, high energy costs and weaknesses in the US housing sector will slow global growth.

* EU agrees new ‘Lisbon Treaty’ The European Union has overnight agreed the precise text of its new ‘Lisbon Treaty’ to be formally signed off on 13 December in the Portuguese capital.

* China’s Hu in control of rapidly modernising military After five years in power, President Hu Jintao has finally gained unquestioned control of China’s massive military.