* Russian FM tells visiting Abbas he has Moscow’s firm support Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Monday that Moscow supports him in his conflict with Hamas.

* An ‘Intel Gap’: What We’re Missing Six years after 9/11 , U.S. intel officials are complaining about the emergence of a major “gap” in their ability to secretly eavesdrop on suspected terrorist plotters.

* US envoy accuses Saudis on Iraq The US ambassador at the UN, Zalmay Khalilzad, has accused Saudi Arabia of undermining efforts to stabilise Iraq.

* J’lem wary of US arms sale to Saudis Despite the significant increase in US military aid to Israel, defense officials warned Sunday that the sale of satellite-guided missiles to Saudi Arabia had the potential to constitute a strategic threat to the state of Israel.

* Reports: Iran to buy jets from Russia Israel is looking into reports that Russia plans to sell 250 advanced long-range Sukhoi-30 fighter jets to Iran in an unprecedented billion-dollar deal.

* Coalition of Evangelicals Voices Support for Palestinian State In recent years, conservative evangelicals who claim a Biblical mandate to protect Israel have built a bulwark of support for the Jewish nation – sending donations, denouncing its critics and urging it not to evacuate settlements or forfeit territory.

* Nasrallah: War destroyed US’s new ME The outcome of last summer’s war between Israel and Hizbullah has left the American vision of a “new Middle East” in shambles, Hizbullah’s leader told a south Lebanon rally late Saturday.

* Another Islam-Christian Blow-Up on the Horizon? “While Christians respect Islam and desire to dialogue with Muslims,” Pope Benedict XVI’s private secretary says, “[we] must act to protect the Christian identity of Europe.”

* Russia subs make Arctic test dive Two Russian mini-subs have made a test dive to the floor of the Arctic Ocean near Russia’s most northerly islands.

* Poll Finds Opposition to Withdrawals, and More Some 60% of Jews in Israel feel that the uprooting of Jews from Gush Katif and northern Shomron was an error – while only 18% support a similar move in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.

* Diplomacy: The return of an Oslo state of mind All of a sudden, things are moving again on the diplomatic front. They are not moving a lot, they are not necessarily moving by leaps and bounds, but they are moving.

* US ‘plans huge Saudi arms deal’ The United States is reported to be preparing a major arms deal with Saudi Arabia worth $20bn (£9.8bn) over the next decade..

* ‘US making major strategic mistakes’ Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on Friday traced the chill in Russia’s relations with the West right to Washington’s door.

* Crisis deepens in Iraq’s divided government Sunni ministers are boycotting government business, and the deepening crisis has cast doubt on the US-backed regime’s ability to push through reforms designed to reunite the war-torn country.

* Egyptian FM: We await Israeli response Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Saturday that the Arab side is waiting for a practical answer from Israel regarding the renewal of negotiations.

* France fears new war in Lebanon The French Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner, has warned that Lebanon faces the danger of renewed war if there is not a resumption of political dialogue.

* PRC threatens life of PA Prime Minister Salaam Fayad Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayad and his government are a “group of traitors hidden in the Mukata ‘presidential’ compound in Ramallah.”

* Palestinian faction threatens to kill PM Fayyad The Popular Resistance Committees, a Palestinian faction opposed to Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s government, has threatened to “physically hurt” Fayyad.

* EU treaty ratification may be difficult, experts say Even if the EU manages to avoid referendums on its new Reform Treaty, ratification of the text may prove less easy.

* Israel to help Palestinians enter Gaza Israel has agreed to allow Palestinians stranded in Egypt for weeks to pass into Israel and then into the Gaza Strip.

* U.S. Officials Voice Frustrations With Saudis’ Role in Iraq During a high-level meeting in Riyadh in January, Saudi officials confronted a top American envoy with documents that seemed to suggest that Iraq’s prime minister could not be trusted.

* Volatility sweeps global markets European shares wobbled on Friday after earlier sharp falls in world stock markets, prompted by worries over higher interest rate levels.

* Kosovo independence is threat to Europe peace: Putin Peace in Europe can only be built by respecting Serbia’s territorial integrity, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

* Israel urges ‘damaging’ Iran sanctions Concerned that the international community is “losing momentum” in its bid to use sanctions to deter Iran’s nuclear drive, Israel is now energetically lobbying for the imposition of a new batch of stiffer sanctions.

* Thousands more rifles reach Palestinian Authority Three Jordanian trucks loaded with Kalashnikov rifles arrived Friday afternoon at the Muqataa compound in Ramallah.

* Report warns against too many ‘Net rules Kazakhstan and Georgia are among countries imposing excessive restrictions on how people use the Internet.

* Report: ‘Armed struggle’ excluded from PA government platform for first time The Palestinian Authority government published its platform on Friday, which for the first time does not include a reference to armed struggle against Israel.

* Lebanese troops fight Islamists ‘at close quarters’ The Lebanese army claimed a significant advance Friday in its bid to rout Fatah Al Islam extremists from a Palestinian refugee camp.

* Security fallout worsens for Fatah It is now six weeks since Hamas security forces overran their Fatah counterparts to seize control of the Gaza Strip.

* Unseemly scramble for Libyan oil France has beaten potential competitors to the punch in the race to secure lucrative Libyan carbon and nuclear contracts.

* Arabs woo Israel over peace plan The two Arab countries with ties to Israel have paid an historic visit to the Jewish state to “extend the hand of peace” on behalf of their fellow Arabs.

* Secy. Rice: Israel Must End Occupation of ‘West Bank’ Speaking with Arabic-language Radio Sawa, based in Washington and Dubai, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice went further in her demands on Israel than President Bush.

* Olmert plans talks with Abbas over Palestinian state Eagerly seeking to restart long-stalled peace talks, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Wednesday that he plans to hold negotiations with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

* Crisis warning on Iraq refugees The scale of the exodus of refugees fleeing violence in Iraq has prompted a “humanitarian crisis”, a conference in Jordan has heard.

* 3,000 rifles arrive in Jericho Some 3,000 rifles were delivered to the Palestinian security forces in Jericho on Thursday.

* Jerusalem panel approves alternate plan for Mughrabi Bridge Jerusalem’s Planning and Construction Committee approved Thursday an alternative plan to the controversial Mughrabi Bridge project.

* ‘Israel, Turkey, as close as ever’ The re-election of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the return of his Islamic Justice and Development party to power will have no impact on Turkish-Israeli relations.

* Lebanese army ‘tightens noose’ on camp Islamists The Lebanese army Thursday tightened the noose around Islamists at a refugee camp in a bid to end a near 10-week standoff that has cost the lives of 119 soldiers.

* Brussels embraces Libya after medics’ release Libya can look forward to “a new era of relations” with the European Union on political and economic areas following the release of European medical staff.

* PA frets over Abbas murder plots Was Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas the target of an assassination attempt earlier this week?

* Israel hears Arab peace proposal The foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan are in Israel to present the Arab League’s Middle East peace plan.

* Iran ready for higher-level US Iraq talks Iran Wednesday said that it was prepared to consider higher-level talks with the United States over Iraq.

* Envoy Blair holds West Bank talks Tony Blair has been in the West Bank to meet Palestinian leaders as part of his first visit to the Middle East as the Quartet group’s special envoy.

* Abbas is close to calling new elections Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday said he is close to calling new legislative elections.

* Sarkozy to boost EU-Libya links French President Nicolas Sarkozy is travelling to Tripoli to meet Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, a day after the release of six foreign medics.

* New plan for Temple Mount bridge aims to silence critics Jerusalem’s Planning and Construction Committee will begin discussing an alternative to the controversial Mughrabi Bridge project.

* UN Kosovo plan a failure – Serbian prime minister The Serbian prime minister said Wednesday that the plan by UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari, which would have ceded 15% of the Balkan state’s territory, has failed.

* PM confirms intention to negotiate with Abbas on formation of Palestinian state Prime Minister Ehud Olmert confirmed Wednesday that he intends to engage in negotiations with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

* Egypt mufti denies saying Muslims can choose faith The body headed by Egypt’s official religious advisor Tuesday denied that he had said that Muslims were free to change their faith.

* 600 olim from France arrive in Israel Two flights carrying 600 new immigrants from France landed at Ben-Gurion Airport on Wednesday and were greeted by dignitaries including President Shimon Peres.

* ‘Hizbullah’s military might is restored’ Hizbullah has restored its military capability and replenished its stockpiles of weapons and missiles since the end of the Second Lebanon War.

* Syrian Official: War with Israel will be Ballistic Syria sees the next war with Israel as involving missile attacks on civilian infrastructure and front-line guerilla warfare.

* Blair sees ‘sense of possibility’ in ME Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Tuesday urged Israeli and Palestinian leaders to take advantage of a new “sense of possibility” in the region.

* US-Iran talks begin in Iraq Iranian and US officials have begun rare talks in Baghdad amid heightened tensions between the two countries.

* Tisha B’Av in a Gush Katif Tent in Jerusalem Prayers marking the fast day of the Ninth of Av, known as Tisha B’av, are being held in a tent erected opposite the Knesset in Jerusalem.

* Peres urges world to unite against Iran President Shimon Peres has called on the world to unite against Iran and to force it to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

* $100 Oil Price May Be Months Away, Say CIBC, Goldman The $100-a-barrel oil that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said would prevail by 2009 may be only a few months away.

* Just like the constitution, say friends and foes of new EU treaty Both advocates and critics of the complete draft of the new EU treaty highlight its similarity with the bloc’s failed constitution.

* Photo Essay: 100,000 Jews At Western Wall for Tisha B’Av 5767 Over one hundred thousand Jews flooded the Kotel (Western Wall) Plaza on Monday night and Tuesday.

* EU fears split over Kosovo As Belgrade and Pristina are heading for last resort negotiations on the future of Serbia’s breakaway province of Kosovo, the European Union is set to maintain its fragile unity over the issue.

* US and Iran to hold second talks Iran and the US are to hold fresh talks on the subject of Iraq, only their second one-on-one meeting in decades.

* Turkish PM vows to pursue reform Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to continue reforms and efforts to join the European Union, following his party’s election victory.

* Olmert Reiterates Stance to Give Away Judea and Samaria Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert reiterated his belief that Israel “needs to withdraw” from the biblical Jewish provinces of Judea and Samaria.

* Reform, Progressive Jews try to make Tisha B’av more relevant to secular public Tisha B’Av, a Hebrew calendar date during which primarily religious and ultra-Orthodox Jews fast and mourn the destruction of the First and Second Temples, is not largely observed by Israel’s secular public.

* Iran and Syria Forge Military Alliance Against “Common Enemies” Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Syrian President Bashar Assad held a joint press conference in Damascus Thursday confirming the formation of a new regional military alliance.

* EU talks to thrash out new treaty The EU has launched three months of talks on the text of a new treaty to reform the 27-member bloc.

* Envoy Blair arrives in Mid-East Tony Blair has arrived in Jordan at the start of his first visit to the Middle East as special envoy to the region.

* Israel urges Blair to spurn Hamas Amid expectation that new Quartet envoy Tony Blair may want to widen his mandate and talk to Hamas, Israeli officials made clear Sunday that this is unacceptable.

* IDF begins clearing out Homesh settlers Police and IDF troops forcibly evicted hundreds of settlers and right-wing activists from the former settlement of Homesh on Monday, after the activists managed to make their way into the site Sunday night against army orders.

* Builder says Dubai high-rise is the world’s tallest Developers of a 1,680-foot skyscraper still under construction in oil-rich Dubai claimed Saturday that it has become the world’s tallest building, surpassing Taiwan’s Taipei 101 which has dominated the global skyline at 1,667 feet since 2004.

* Lieberman: It is time to form an emergency government Israel Beiteinu’s Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman urged the government and the opposition to consider forming a national emergency government.

* Turkey prepares for key election Political campaigning has ended in Turkey ahead of Sunday’s general election, seen as one of the most important in the nation’s history.

* PM: Israel can’t hold West Bank forever Anyone who believes that Israel can maintain its current hold on all the West Bank is “living in a dream.”

* Blair seeks two-state solution Tony Blair, Britain’s former prime minister, has told Middle East mediators that there needs to be a “clear political perspective” for a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

* Eitan: We must not negotiate with Syria Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to Damascus proves that Israel must not open negotiations with Syria.

* Russia says only UN can decide the future of Kosovo Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Saturday that only a UN Security Council’s resolution could determine a legitimate status of Kosovo.

* ‘Israel, Abbas plan to kill our leaders’ Hamas leaders on Thursday condemned Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s decision to hold early parliamentary and presidential elections and vowed to foil the vote.

* ‘Syrian officials interested in renewing talks with Israel’ Senior Syrian officials told the Danish foreign minister, Per Stig Møller, that their country was “ready to renew negotiations with Israel under the auspices of the international Quartet.”

* Poland indicates it is ready to compromise on EU voting rights Days before EU’s foreign ministers kick off detailed talks on the bloc’s new treaty, Poland has signalled it will not insist on further debates.

* Hamas warns Blair not to ignore group Hamas warned Tony Blair on Saturday his credibility as the new international Middle East peace envoy will be damaged if he ignores the organization.

* Emotional home coming for freed Palestinian prisoners More than 250 Palestinian prisoners, mainly members of the secular Fatah faction, have been released early by Israel in a “goodwill” gesture towards Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas.

* Blair Debuts as Middle East Envoy Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair formally takes up his new position as special envoy for the Middle East Quartet.

* Taliban seize members of South Korean church Officials confirmed Friday that a group of South Koreans, apparently volunteers from a Christian church, appeared to have been abducted in Afghanistan.

* Sunnis Return to Iraqi Parliament Sunni legislators returned to Iraq’s parliament Thursday after a five-week boycott.

* Abbas’ dangerous game Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas called for new presidential and legislative elections.

* US, Europe Firm on Shunning Hamas The United States and Europe held firm Thursday to their boycott of the militant Palestinian group Hamas.

* Mideast quartet seen backing U.S. plan The quartet of Middle East mediators is expected to back U.S. plans to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace moves.

* Middle East Quartet restates support for independent Palestinian state The Middle East Quartet’s mediators restated their support here Thursday for an independent Palestinian state.

* Doctor remanded over failed car bombings A doctor was remanded in custody today charged with conspiracy to cause explosions in relation to the failed car bomb attacks in London and Glasgow.

* Israel slams Iran-Syria alliance Israel has denounced an alliance between Iran and Syria that it said cast doubts on Syrian peace intentions.

* Iranian President Ahmadinejad arrives in Damascus for talks with Assad Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Syria on Thursday for talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad.

* ‘Syria transferring arms to Lebanon’ The United States accused Syria and Iran on Wednesday of playing a negative role in Lebanon.

* US ‘committed to lead’ Mideast peace – Rice US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said today Washington remained committed to lead the Middle East peace process.

* Senior IDF officer: Israel on collision course with Hamas Claiming that Hamas has jumped light years since Israel’s disengagement from Gaza, a high-ranking IDF officer said that there was currently a limited window of opportunity for Israel.

* Analysis: the herculean task ahead for Blair Tony Blair is unlikely to get much of a taste of the herculean task ahead of him when he meets the Middle East Quartet today.

* The war’s timing was ‘lucky’ for Israel If the Second Lebanon War would have broken out in three or four years time, Hizbullah might have acquired weapons of mass destruction.

* A church’s assertive shift toward tradition The leader of 1.1 billion Catholics, Pope Benedict XVI, is completing a significant theological shift of the Roman Catholic church.

* Analysis: Turkish army on Iraqi border is just ‘saber-rattling’ Recent statements by Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari concerning a buildup of Turkish troops along the country’s border have heightened international fears.

* IDF: Hamas is smuggling high-tech arms into Gaza A senior Israel Defense Forces officer said Thursday that in the past two years Hamas has made a significant leap in the level of sophistication of the arms it is smuggling into Gaza.

* Battles continue at Lebanon camp The Lebanese army has continued shelling Islamist militants cornered in a Palestinian refugee camp.