By: Ariel Cohen – Middle East Times

Oil demand appears in unexpected places, where there was very little demand in the recent past. The oil thirst is mounting in the Persian Gulf, Russia, even in Africa, due to expanding wealth, booming construction projects, and growing populations. Government fuel subsidies, typical in energy exporting countries, are increasing demand for gasoline. No wonder that the oil prices are going up, up and away.

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* Ireland rejects EU reform treaty Voters in Ireland have rejected the European Union’s Lisbon reform treaty in a referendum by 53.4% to 46.6%.

* ‘Peace talks mustn’t start from scratch’ Direct negotiations between Syria and Israel must resume from the point where they left off before the assassination of former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995.

* Bush ‘honoured’ by Pope’s welcome US President George W Bush has been afforded a special audience with Pope Benedict XVI, on his final official visit to meet the pontiff.

* Is Israel Indirectly buying Iranian oil? Having adamantly denied for months that Israel could possibly be purchasing any oil originating in Iran, an Israeli official has now acknowledged that the Jewish state cannot be sure that Iranian oil is not coming here indirectly.

* Outrage over Jerusalem housing plan Palestinian officials have expressed outrage at Israeli plans to build about 2,000 new housing units in occupied east Jerusalem.

* Israel expects upgraded EU ties The Foreign Ministry expects the European Union to boost its ties with Israel at a joint meeting in Luxembourg.

* Al-Sadr: New force to fight U.S. in Iraq Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is establishing a new fighting force to battle U.S.-led troops in Iraq.

* Turkey, Syria eye nuclear energy cooperation Turkey and Syria are considering setting up a joint energy company and could build joint nuclear power plants for electricity.

* Iraqi PM: Security talks with US have hit ‘dead end’ Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Friday that the talks with the United States on a long-term security agreement between the two nations have reached a “dead end.”

* The Real World: Oil’s Creative Destruction Oil demand appears in unexpected places, where there was very little demand in the recent past.

* High Court sides with Guantanamo detainees again The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that foreign terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay have rights under the Constitution to challenge their detention in U.S. civilian courts.

* Ireland in crunch EU treaty vote People in the Irish Republic are voting in a referendum on whether to ratify the European Union reform treaty, with turnout expected to be a key factor.

* Papers give peek inside al Qaeda in Iraq With Christmas 2005 approaching, the princes of al Qaeda’s western command were gathering.

* Gaddafi attacks Obama on Israel Libya’s leader has strongly criticised US presidential candidate Barack Obama for saying Jerusalem should remain the undivided capital of Israel.

* Poll: Most Israelis against Hamas truce A majority of Israelis oppose a cease-fire agreement with Hamas if it does not include the release of imprisoned Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit.

* How Iran Has Bush Over a Barrel If wasn’t clear before it should be now: the Bush administration can’t afford to attack Iran.

* Fallout from Shiite-Sunni Split The mufti of Lebanon, the highest religious authority representing Lebanon’s Sunni Muslim community called Hezbollah’s military takeover of West Beirut a few weeks ago, “a military occupation.”

* Bush in Rome for two-day visit President George W. Bush can look forward to a hearty welcome from his old friend, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

* China and Taiwan agree top-level visit in talks breakthrough It is a decade since China and Taiwan took even a small step back from the brink of war.

* Rocket and Mortar Barrage Hits Ashkelon and Negev A barrage of 25 Kassam rockets and close to 50 mortar shells slammed into the Ashkelon Coast Regional Council and neighboring areas.

* Iran Supports Iraq Terror Secret details of the production of a new type of explosively formed penetrator, or EFP in military jargon, is being produced by Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps.

* Irish ‘no’ camp says Paris hiding plans for EU defence On the eve of Ireland’s referendum on the EU treaty, the Irish “no” camp has accused France of trying to hide its intentions to push for beefing up EU military.

* Bush warns Iran of ‘all options’ US President George W Bush says he wants to pursue diplomacy to deal with Iran’s controversial nuclear programme, but “all options are on the table”.

* Security cabinet nixes Gaza op for now The long-delayed decision whether to accept an Egyptian-brokered cease fire with Hamas or step up military operations against the Gaza Strip came before the security cabinet.

* Hamas: Gaza will become graveyard for IDF soldiers if raided “The current Israeli government is the weakest in the country’s history,” Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri said.

* ‘No chance of Iran attack by Israel, US’ Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Wednesday rejected sanctions as an effective means to dissuade Teheran from pursuing its uranium enrichment program.

* Israel Museum Displays Ancient Book of Isaiah The oldest existing Book of the Bible is on display in the Israel’s Museum Shrine of the Book, through mid-August.

* Southern residents: Politicians are scared Gaza-region residents are infuriated over Wednesday’s cabinet meeting, which ended on an indecisive note.

* Irish govt hopes EU treaty win in close race The Irish government said it hoped voters would back the European Union’s reform treaty but the race was very close.

* Lift-off for Nasa space telescope A Nasa space telescope has launched successfully on a mission to explore the Universe with “gamma-ray glasses”.

* US and EU issue new Iran warning The EU and the US have threatened Iran with further sanctions unless it verifiably suspends nuclear enrichment.

* Iran warns of “painful” response if Israel attacks Iran’s defense minister was quoted on Tuesday as warning Israel of a “very painful” response if it launched a military strike over the Islamic Republic’s disputed nuclear program.

* Iran, Iraq agree to boost defense cooperation Iran and Iraq agreed to boost defense cooperation during a visit of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to Tehran.

* Ministers favor wide-scale Gaza op Fear of a weak cease-fire agreement which would work to the advantage of Hamas led a majority of ministers to express their support.

* Arabic ‘Threatens’ Israeli Supremacy In a move that has outraged both Arab Israelis and some progressive Jewish Israelis, a new bill was presented to the Israeli Knesset.

* ‘Mubarak shuns summit to avoid Assad’ A mini-summit of Arab leaders opened in the Libyan capital on Tuesday but Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak stayed away from the venue.

* France warns Ireland on EU treaty ‘No’ vote French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner has warned Ireland about the consequences of voting “No” in Thursday’s referendum.

* A divide even among Israel’s supporters When Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel addressed the American Israel Public Affairs Committee recently he got a big hand when he denounced Iran.

* US: Iraq security pact can be finalized in July The U.S. State Department’s top Iraq adviser said Tuesday he believes an agreement to establish a long-term security relationship between Iraq and the United States will be completed by the end of July.

* Sun Goes Longer Than Normal Without Producing Sunspots The sun has been lying low for the past couple of years, producing no sunspots and giving a break to satellites.

* Fatah and Hamas ‘restore trust’ Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah have held two days of talks in the Senegalese capital Dakar.

* Khamenei criticises US role in Iraq Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, has advised Iraq’s visiting prime minister against signing an agreement with the US keeping foreign troops in the country beyond 2008.

* EU holds breath ahead of Irish treaty referendum All eyes are on Ireland this week as the European Union awaits the result of the country’s EU treaty referendum on Thursday with a mixture of relief that the day has finally come around and fear that it may bring a “no” vote.

* Israel tries to play down minister’s warning of attack on Iran Israel yesterday attempted to play down a warning from a senior government minister that an attack on Iran was “unavoidable” if Tehran continued to develop nuclear weapons.

* Qureia: Latrun also up for negotiation Top Palestinian envoy tells Palestinian reporters Israel has offered East Jerusalem, Jordan River Valley, Dead Sea as part of land-swap offer.

* Time overdue for a world currency The world economy is suffering from high inflation, stemming from overly expansionary monetary policy in the United States, as indicated by negative real interest rates and the rapidly depreciating dollar.

* Israeli officials: Israel-Syria talks set to resume this week Indirect peace talks between Israel and Syria are scheduled to resume this week in Turkey, Israeli officials said on Monday.

* Arab countries complicate Med Union plan A number of Arab countries are worried that if they join the EU’s planned Mediterranean Union together with Israel, it would imply a normalisation of bilateral relations, with the Algerian foreign minister stressing that an overall vision for the project still has to be agreed.

* Pressure from oil prices spreads Rising oil prices are beginning to cut into the profits of a wide range of businesses, pushing many to raise prices and maneuver aggressively to offset the rising cost of merchandise made from petroleum.

* President George Bush begins farewell tour of Europe . . . and this time he hopes to be among friends President Bush embarks today on his last important trip to Europe, a six-day swing that will include a dinner with Gordon Brown and a meeting with the Queen at Windsor Castle.

By: Hossein Askari and Noureddine Krichene – Asia Times Online (Holdings), Ltd.

The world economy is suffering from high inflation, stemming from overly expansionary monetary policy in the United States, as indicated by negative real interest rates and the rapidly depreciating dollar. Low interest rates discourage savings, reduce bond yields and cause investors to seek higher yields in speculative commodities and foreign currency markets.

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* Army Radio: Gov’t confirms Israel, PA to draft peace proposal Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have agreed to start drafting elements of a proposed peace accord.

* Iraqi PM begins talks in Tehran Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has arrived in Iran for talks aimed at improving relations between the two neighbouring countries.

* ‘Next gov’t won’t recognize document’ News that Israel and the Palestinian Authority are planning to begin drafting elements of a future peace accord were ill received by the government’s political opponents.

* Russia criticises US over economy Russia’s new president has used his first major speech since taking power in May to blame the United States for the global financial downturn.

* US: Bush committed to diplomacy on Iran Hours after Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz was quoted as saying that Iran would be attacked if it continued work on its nuclear program.

* Arab states leery of Israel’s entry into Mediterranean Union Mediterranean countries due to launch a regional union next month have yet to agree an overall vision for the project and questions remain over Israel’s role.

* McCain: US embassy should be in J’lem Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain used the status of Jerusalem to attack his Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama.

* Oil hike sparks ‘serious concern’ The US and the four largest economies in Asia are to voice “serious concerns” over “unprecedented” oil prices.

* Sarkozy in Lebanon to show support French President Nicolas Sarkozy pledged strong support for Lebanon’s new president and the country’s peace efforts.

* Latest Irish poll shows EU treaty heading for defeat The latest poll in Ireland has revealed a shock swing to the “no” side ahead of next week’s vote on the EU’s Lisbon treaty.

* PM: Pendulum closer to harsh Gaza op Prime Minister Ehud Olmert returned to Israel from the US on Friday morning and hinted that Gaza’s day of reckoning was fast approaching.

* Hamas vows to continue attacks Hamas warned on Thursday afternoon that it would continue to launch attacks against Israeli communities near the Gaza border.

* Arab Anger Forces Obama to Backtrack on Jerusalem Within 24 hours of expressing his firm support for a united Jerusalem in a speech to a pro-Israel lobby organization, US Senator Barack Obama found himself forced to backtrack.

* Olmert spokesman: All options on table regarding Iran Referring to Iran’s nuclear program, a spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that “all options must remain on the table”.

* Crisis talks over Turkish ruling Turkey’s ruling party has held an emergency meeting after its landmark measure allowing students to wear headscarves was blocked.

* ‘Syria to let inspectors visit only 1 suspected nuke site’ Syria told a 35-nation meeting in Vienna that it will limit the sites UN nuclear inspectors will see during their visit.

* PM to Bush, Abbas: I’ll weather legal storm, stay in office Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told President George W. Bush and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas this week that he believes he can overcome his legal and political difficulties.

* Syria, Lebanon forging new relationship Damascus and Beirut are heading toward normalization and full diplomatic relations for the first time in their modern history.

* World Leaders Pledge to Combat Food Crisis World leaders at a UN summit in Rome have pledged to reduce trade barriers and boost agricultural production to combat a global food crisis.

* Medvedev warns against Nato entry Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has warned Georgia and Ukraine of serious consequences if they press ahead with plans to join Nato.

By: Matthew Wagner and AP – The Jerusalem Post

In what has been seen as a bid to secure geopolitical security at a time when oil prices are skyrocketing, Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah launched a three-day Muslim conference Wednesday aimed at making peace within Islam.

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