* Gaddafi elected as next AU leader Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has been elected as chairman of the 53-nation African Union.

* Netanyahu says Iran will not get hands on nukes Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s leading candidate for prime minister, said that Iran “will not be armed with a nuclear weapon.”

* EU and China to fight financial crisis EU-China co-operation is crucial to solving current financial problems, said Mr Barroso.

* Israel may reject Turkish arms request As Turkish-Israeli diplomatic relations continue to crumble, the close ties between the two countries in other areas are being reexamined as well.

* Mashaal thanks Iran for help in Gaza Hamas exiled leader Khaled Mashaal thanked his Iranian backers, saying Teheran played a “big role” in helping the terror group during the IDF’s Operation Cast Lead offensive in Gaza.

* Abbas: Hamas must accept my authority Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said that he will not hold reconciliation talks with the rival Hamas group unless it accepts his authority.

* Could ecoterrorists let slip the bugs of war? Insects can spread disease and destroy crops with devastating speed. Do not underestimate their potential as weapons

* France and Germany call summits on financial crisis As the effects of the financial are being increasingly felt in Europe, the leaders of the EU’s two biggest nations are both to organise extraordinary meetings aiming to deal with the crisis.

* National Union candidate: Kahane was right Dr. Michael Ben-Ari, No. 4 on rightist party’s Knesset list, offers to expel Israel’s Arabs to countries such as Venezuela and Turkey, seeks to banish ‘leftists’ from High Court, and believes in rebuilding Temple in Jerusalem.

By: Philip Webster – Times Newspapers Ltd.

Hamas must somehow be brought into the Middle East peace process because the policy of isolating Gaza in the quest for a settlement will not work, Tony Blair has told The Times.

The former prime minister implicitly criticizes the strategy followed by the Bush Administration and Israel of focusing all peace and reconstruction efforts on the West Bank. “It was half of what we needed,” he said.

In an interview with Ginny Dougary in the Saturday Magazine, Mr Blair says that the strategy of “pushing Gaza aside” and trying to create a Palestinian state on the West Bank “was never going to work and will never work”. He hints in references to how peace was eventually achieved in Northern Ireland that the time may be approaching to talk to Hamas … “My basic predisposition is that in a situation like this you talk to everybody.”

He suggests that the policy was behind last month’s ferocious reopening of hostilities between Israel and Hamas in Gaza that were believed to have left more than 1,000 people dead.

Mr Blair, speaking after talks with the new US envoy George Mitchell, says that Gaza will not be pushed aside because there are 1.25 million people there who want a Palestinian state.

Mr Blair, the Middle East envoy for the Quartet group of the US, UN, Russia and the European Union, clearly believes that the Obama Administration is committed to a fresh effort to secure peace and appears to have been waiting for the change of government to make his strongest criticism so far of the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

Asked if he was surprised by the devastating events over Christmas, when Israel responded to Hamas rocket attacks by bombing targets in Gaza, he says that he was not. “I have been saying for some time that what was needed was a completely different strategy,” he said.

“Yes, we do need to show through the change we are making on the West Bank that the Palestinian state could be a reality. The trouble is that if you simply try to push Gaza to one side then eventually what happens is the situation becomes so serious that it erupts and you deliver into the hands of the mass the power to erupt at any point in time.”

Thought to be privately critical of the failure of the former US administration to give a full commitment to the peace process, Mr Blair says that the appointment of Mr Mitchell, with whom he worked on the Northern Ireland peace process, indicated a “real commitment” by America.

Hinting at a change of tack he says that with Mr Mitchell as a full-time envoy there will be a better chance of a strategy in Gaza “that offers people the possibility of rejoining the West Bank on the right terms”.

Mr Blair also received a warm endorsement yesterday for his Middle East work from Bill Clinton, the former US President. He says that Mr Blair and Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, “will work well together” towards achieving a lasting peace.

Mr Clinton says of Mr Blair: “He has done really important work as Middle East envoy under particularly difficult circumstances. I have always admired Tony’s willingness to wade into troubled waters and make tough decisions, as he did in helping to end 30 years of sectarian violence and broker a lasting peace in Northern Ireland. He is demonstrating that same dedication and intensity to promoting economic opportunity and political resolution in the Middle East, knowing from experience that the concrete benefits can play a crucial role in making a just and lasting peace possible. As Hillary begins her work as US Secretary of State, I know she and Tony will work well together toward that end.”

Asked whether he had changed his view about talking to Hamas since the Palestinian elections, Mr Blair replies that his “basic predisposition is that in a situation like this you talk to everybody”.

However, he repeated the Quartet position that there can be no talks, official or unofficial, with Hamas until they renounce violence and recognize Israel.

Mr Blair then says that there is a distinction between the difficulty of negotiating with Hamas as part of a peace process if they would not accept one of the states in the two-state solution, and “talking to Hamas as the de facto power in Gaza”.

He declines to answer whether he has talked to Hamas unofficially, although his staff later insists that he has not, and that all contacts have been via Egyptian diplomats. Under intense questioning later he replies: “I do think it is important that we find a way of bringing Hamas into this process, but it can only be done if Hamas are prepared to do it on the right terms.”

Pressed to go further Mr Blair says that he has to be careful how he expresses things because “if you do this in the wrong way it can destabilize the very people in Palestine who have been working all through for the moderate cause”.

He added: “We do have to find a way of making sure that the choice is put before Hamas and the people of Gaza in a clear, understandable, unambiguous way, for them to choose their future. You have to find a way of communicating that choice to them in their terms. Now exactly what way you choose at the moment, that is an open question.”

Diplomats will point out that Mr Blair fully signed up to the Annapolis accord which envisaged the creation of a Palestinian state by the end of 2008 whether Gaza was part of it or not. Even though skeptics said that the goal was unrealistic, Mr Blair insisted that a deal could be done by the end of last year.

By: Charles Krauthammer – Washington Post Writers Group

Every new president flatters himself that he, kinder and gentler, is beginning the world anew. Yet, when Barack Obama in his inaugural address reached out to Muslims with “to the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect,” his formulation was needlessly defensive and apologetic.

Is it “new” to acknowledge Muslim interests and show respect to the Muslim world? Obama doesn’t just think so, he said so again to millions in his al-Arabiya interview, insisting on the need to “restore” the “same respect and partnership that America had with the Muslim world as recently as 20 or 30 years ago.”

Astonishing. In these most recent 20 years — the alleged winter of our disrespect of the Islamic world — America did not just respect Muslims, it bled for them. It engaged in five military campaigns, every one of which involved — and resulted in — the liberation of a Muslim people: Bosnia, Kosovo, Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq.

The two Balkan interventions — as well as the failed 1992-93 Somali intervention to feed starving African Muslims (43 Americans were killed) — were humanitarian exercises of the highest order, there being no significant U.S. strategic interest at stake. In these 20 years, this nation has done more for suffering and oppressed Muslims than any nation, Muslim or non-Muslim, anywhere on earth. Why are we apologizing?

And what of that happy U.S.-Muslim relationship that Obama imagines existed “as recently as 20 or 30 years ago” that he has now come to restore? Thirty years ago, 1979, saw the greatest U.S.-Muslim rupture in our 233-year history: Iran’s radical Islamic revolution, the seizure of the U.S. embassy, the 14 months of America held hostage.

Which came just a few years after the Arab oil embargo that sent the United States into a long and punishing recession. Which, in turn, was preceded by the kidnapping and cold-blooded execution by Arab terrorists of the U.S. ambassador in Sudan and his charge d’affaires.

This is to say nothing of the Marine barracks massacre of 1983, and the innumerable attacks on U.S. embassies and installations around the world during what Obama now characterizes as the halcyon days of U.S.-Islamic relations.

Look. If Barack Obama wants to say, as he said to al-Arabiya, I have Muslim roots, Muslim family members, have lived in a Muslim country — implying a special affinity that uniquely positions him to establish good relations — that’s fine. But it is both false and deeply injurious to this country to draw a historical line dividing America under Obama from a benighted past when Islam was supposedly disrespected and demonized.

As in Obama’s grand admonition: “We cannot paint with a broad brush a faith as a consequence of the violence that is done in that faith’s name.” Have “we” been doing that, smearing Islam because of a small minority? George Bush went to the Islamic Center in Washington six days after 9/11, when the fires of Ground Zero were still smoldering, to declare “Islam is peace,” to extend fellowship and friendship to Muslims, to insist that Americans treat them with respect and generosity of spirit.

And America listened. In these seven years since 9/11 — seven years during which thousands of Muslims rioted all over the world (resulting in the death of more than 100) to avenge a bunch of cartoons — there’s not been a single anti-Muslim riot in the United States to avenge the greatest massacre in U.S. history. On the contrary. In its aftermath, we elected our first Muslim member of Congress and our first president of Muslim parentage.

“My job,” says Obama, “is to communicate to the American people that the Muslim world is filled with extraordinary people who simply want to live their lives and see their children live better lives.” That’s his job? Do the American people think otherwise? Does he think he is bravely breaking new ground? George Bush, Condoleezza Rice and countless other leaders offered myriad expressions of that same universalist sentiment.

Every president has the right to portray himself as ushering in a new era of this or that. Obama wants to pursue new ties with Muslim nations, drawing on his own identity and associations. Good. But when his self-inflation as redeemer of U.S.-Muslim relations leads him to suggest that pre-Obama America was disrespectful or insensitive or uncaring of Muslims, he is engaging not just in fiction but in gratuitous disparagement of the country he is now privileged to lead.

* Iraqi PM hails vote as ‘victory’ Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has hailed a largely peaceful vote for new provincial councils across the country as a victory for all Iraqis.

* Hamas must be brought into peace process, says Tony Blair Hamas must somehow be brought into the Middle East peace process because the policy of isolating Gaza in the quest for a settlement will not work.

* Obama’s Unnecessary Apology Every new president flatters himself that he, kinder and gentler, is beginning the world anew.

* Hamas: Blair’s suggestion ‘testifies to his stupidity’ After Middle East Quartet envoy to the region Tony Blair said in in an interview to The Times that Hamas must be involved in the peace process, the movement and its leaders issues statements.

* Iranians mark Islamic revolution Iran has begun 10 days of celebrations to mark the 30th anniversary of the Islamic revolution that overthrew the US-backed former ruler, the Shah.

* Thousands protest across Russia Thousands of people have held rallies across Russia protesting against what they describe as the government’s mismanagement of the economy.

* Turkish PM Erdogan says ‘Palestine today is an open-air prison’ Fresh off his public spat with President Shimon Peres in Davos, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan continues to make waves in the murky waters of Middle East diplomacy.

* US ‘actively seeks’ Mid-East deal The US envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, has said Washington is committed to “actively and aggressively” seeking lasting peace.

* Hamas Plans Alternative Authority to PLO The Hamas leadership in exile has publicly declared its intention to form an alternative representative authority to replace the decades-old Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

* Pope’s Silence Fuels Holocaust Controversy Ever since Pope Benedict XVI allowed schismatic bishops back into the Catholic fold a week ago, his decision has been met with abundant expressions of outrage.

* Tight security before Iraq polls A full-scale security clampdown is being rolled out in Iraq ahead of regional elections this weekend.

* ‘Obama not ruling out striking Iran’ US President Barack Obama is not ruling out military strikes against Iran to stop its nuclear program.

* Turkish PM given hero’s welcome Turkey’s PM has received a hero’s welcome on his return to Istanbul after he stormed out of a debate about Gaza at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

* ‘Iran and Syria trying to replace PLO’ The Palestinian Authority on Thursday accused Iran and Syria of encouraging Hamas and other radical groups to establish a new leadership.

* EU and China to fight financial crisis European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao have pledged to co-operate on tackling online piracy.

* ‘New settlement info implicates gov’t’ A newly leaked database detailing the complicity of the government in widespread illegal construction in West Bank settlements will be used to help Palestinians file lawsuits.

* World worries how U.S. will pay for stimulus Even as the U.S. Congress looks for ways to expand President Barack Obama’s $819 billion stimulus package, the rest of the world is wondering how Washington will pay for it all.

* Knesset Christian Allies Caucus marks its fifth anniversary The Knesset’s Christian Allies Caucus is marking five years of operation this month by redoubling its efforts to direct Christian faith-based support for Israel to legislatures around the world.

* Peres tells Putin Russia can prevent Gaza arms smuggling President Shimon Peres met Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

* U.S. envoy Mitchell: Mideast peace process faces substantial hurdles United States Mideast envoy George Mitchell said on Friday the new U.S. administration’s push for Israeli-Palestinian peace after the war in the Gaza Strip faced substantial hurdles, and he predicted further setbacks.

* Netanyahu: J’lem division will lead to Iran base An Israeli withdrawal from east Jerusalem will lead to the creation of an Iranian terror base in the city.

* Turkey urges Obama to redefine Mideast terrorism Turkey’s prime minister had a message Thursday for U.S. President Barack Obama: redefine terror and terrorism in the Middle East and use it as the basis for a new American policy.

* Bibi: Iran threat trumps economic crisis Keeping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons ranks above the economy in the challenges facing leaders in the 21st century.

* Yesha: Palestinian state will blow up in our face The Yesha Council prepared a special welcome for visiting US Mideast Envoy George Mitchell on Wednesday.

* ‘Erdogan’s remarks aid anti-Semitism’ Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is encouraging expressions of anti-Semitism in his country by espousing biased views.

* Russia, China Blame Woes on Capitalism The premiers of Russia and China slammed the U.S. economic system in speeches Wednesday, holding it responsible for the global economic crisis.

* Hamas signals desire to talk to world Senior officials in Hamas are indicating a willingness to negotiate a deal for a long-term truce with Israel.

* World facing lowest growth since WWII, says IMF report World growth is to slow to its lowest level in 60 years according to an International Monetary Fund.

* Revealed: the letter Obama team hope will heal Iran rift Officials of Barack Obama’s administration have drafted a letter to Iran from the president aimed at unfreezing US-Iranian relations and opening the way for face-to-face talks.

* Mideast Envoy Vows Push for Peace as Gaza Violence Flares President Barack Obama’s special envoy to the Mideast said the U.S. will vigorously pursue peace in the region.

* ‘Uranium For Iran Nuke In 2009’ Iran will have enough enriched uranium to make a single nuclear weapon later this year.

* Mullen: Using force against Iran still an option American military force against Iran remains an option, though it would be a “last resort.”

* Netanyahu: Obama Will Try to Internationalize Jerusalem Sites Likud party chairman and Knesset Opposition leader MK Binyamin Netanyahu warned at the Jerusalem Conference Wednesday that the Obama administration and leftist Israeli politicians will try to internationalize holy sites in Jerusalem.

* Gates says US ready for any China “threat” Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday assured lawmakers that the United States is ready to handle any Chinese military threat.

* Russia shelves plans to point missiles at EU Russia is shelving plans to put short-range rockets inside its EU exclave.

* IAF attacks Hamas smuggling tunnels IAF aircraft struck three arms smuggling tunnels along the Philadelphi Corridor overnight Tuesday.

* Iranian leader demands US apology Iran’s president has responded to an overture by the new US president by demanding an apology for past US “crimes” committed against Iran.

* Settlement growth up 69% in 2008 The number of new structures in the West Bank settlements and outposts increased by 69 percent in 2008.

* Pope in bid to dampen bishop row Pope Benedict XVI has expressed “full and indisputable solidarity” with Jews, distancing himself from a bishop who denies the Nazis used gas chambers.

* Mitchell: US committed to Mideast peace President Barack Obama’s new Mideast envoy says his visit to the Mideast sends a clear signal that the US is committed to pursuing peace and stability.

By: David Smith – Guardian News and Media Limited

Google is to launch a service that would enable users to access their personal computer from any internet connection, according to industry reports. But campaigners warn that it would give the online behemoth unprecedented control over individuals’ personal data.

The Google Drive, or “GDrive”, could kill off the desktop computer, which relies on a powerful hard drive. Instead a user’s personal files and operating system could be stored on Google’s own servers and accessed via the internet.

The long-rumored GDrive is expected to be launched this year, according to the technology news website TG Daily, which described it as “the most anticipated Google product so far”. It is seen as a paradigm shift away from Microsoft’s Windows operating system, which runs inside most of the world’s computers, in favor of “cloud computing“, where the processing and storage is done thousands of miles away in remote data centers.

Home and business users are increasingly turning to web-based services, usually free, ranging from email (such as Hotmail and Gmail) and digital photo storage (such as Flickr and Picasa) to more applications for documents and spreadsheets (such as Google Apps). The loss of a laptop or crash of a hard drive does not jeopardise the data because it is regularly saved in “the cloud” and can be accessed via the web from any machine.

The GDrive would follow this logic to its conclusion by shifting the contents of a user’s hard drive to the Google servers. The PC would be a simpler, cheaper device acting as a portal to the web, perhaps via an adaptation of Google’s operating system for mobile phones, Android. Users would think of their computer as software rather than hardware.

It is this prospect that alarms critics of Google’s ambitions. Peter Brown, executive director of the Free Software Foundation, a charity defending computer users’ liberties, did not dispute the convenience offered, but said: “It’s a little bit like saying, ‘we’re in a dictatorship, the trains are running on time.’ But does it matter to you that someone can see everything on your computer? Does it matter that Google can be subpoenaed at any time to hand over all your data to the American government?”

Google refused to confirm the GDrive, but acknowledged the growing demand for cloud computing. Dave Armstrong, head of product and marketing for Google Enterprise, said: “There’s a clear direction … away from people thinking, ‘This is my PC, this is my hard drive,’ to ‘This is how I interact with information, this is how I interact with the web.'”

Breaking News Israel launches attacks in Gaza Israel has carried out an air attack in the Gaza Strip and launched an incursion with tanks and bulldozers across the border.

* Bibi won’t rule out Palestinian state Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu and three quarters of the Likud’s candidates declined to sign a loyalty oath ruling out a Palestinian state.

* Hamas Back in Business, Fatah Pushes Reunification Residents of Gaza reported Monday that Hamas had resumed its operations in the area.

* Chinese premier embarks on fence-mending tour of Europe Chinese premier Wen Jiabao will arrive in Europe on Tuesday (27 January) for a visit.

* New US Administration Floats ‘Direct Diplomacy’ With Iran The US Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, began her term Monday by dropping a not-unexpected bombshell in the UN chambers.

* Obama reaches out to Muslim world US President Barack Obama has used his first formal TV interview since taking office to reach out to the Muslim world – saying Americans are not its enemy.

* Obama: We want progress, not photo ops As George Mitchell was dispatched to the Middle East, US President Barack Obama said overnight Monday that his new envoy to the region would aim “to engage vigorously and consistently.

* Gold pushes above $900 in buying spree Strong investor buying on Monday pushed the price of gold above $900 a troy ounce, hitting a 3½-month high in dollar terms.

* Auschwitz survivors mark camp’s liberation In the depths of the Polish winter, Auschwitz survivors and government officials marked the 64th anniversary of the Nazi death camp’s liberation.

* Israel to face ‘catastrophe’ without Palestinian state, says Jimmy Carter Former President Jimmy Carter said Monday that Israel will face a “catastrophe” unless it revives the Mideast peace process.

* NATO chief admits failure in drawing EU closer Outgoing NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has said he regrets not having been able to bring the military alliance and the EU closer together.

* Top EU official: Hamas fully responsible for Gaza war Hamas bears full responsibility for the war in Gaza, a top EU official in the Strip, calling the group “a terrorist movement.”

* Lauder: Sanctions won’t stop Iran The president of the New York-based World Jewish Congress that economic sanctions against Iran would not stop the Islamic Republic from seeking to attain nuclear weapons.

* Hamas proposes 1-year cease-fire Hamas is prepared to reach a one-year truce with Israel if the border crossings into the Gaza Strip are opened, Hamas legislator Mushir al-Masri said.

* Islamists seize Somali MPs’ base Islamist insurgents have captured most of Somalia’s central city of Baidoa – one of the last strongholds of the fragile transitional government.

* Why Israelis worry Few Israelis today would countenance a total withdrawal to the boundaries Israel found itself in when the Six Day War erupted.

* Google plans to make PCs history Industry critics warn of danger in giving internet leader more power

* EU calls for Palestinian unity government The European Union called for the divided Palestinian leadership to unite to support the opening of border crossings to allow humanitarian aid and other goods into the Gaza Strip.

* NATO, Russian envoys meet after 5-month hiatus Ambassadors from NATO nations and Russia were meeting Monday to try to restart normal relations that have been suspended since Russia’s bloody confrontation with Georgia five months ago.

* Obama aims for oil independence US President Barack Obama has called for US energy independence, saying reliance on foreign oil and global warming posed threats to the country.

* Hamas, Fatah hold reconciliation talks in Egypt Current talks come a week after Abbas urged feuding Palestinian factions to form unity government to prepare for elections