By: Larry Cohler-Esses – The Jewish Week

Evangelical Christians, long seen as a monolith in lockstep support of Israel, publicly fractured last week as two significant evangelical factions lobbied President Bush with criticism of Israel from opposite points of view.

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* Abbas ready for ‘declaration of principles’ with Israel Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday he is ready to work with Israel on a “declaration of principles” as a step toward a full peace agreement.

* Russia plants flag under N Pole Russian explorers have planted their country’s flag on the seabed 4,200m (14,000ft) below the North Pole to further Moscow’s claims to the Arctic.

* ‘Hamas must be kept out of the game’ During his meeting with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stressed, according to Israeli officials, that Hamas must “be kept out of the game.”

* Middle East peace conference likely in November A peace conference which would include Israel and moderate Arab states may convene in Washington in November.

* Hamas brushes off ME peace summit Meanwhile, senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk brushed off the planned Middle East peace conference as a publicity stunt.

* Syria plans war of attrition in the Golan Heights In a secret message relayed to Jerusalem, Syria warned the Israeli government that should it continue to reject Damascus’ peace overtures.

* Netanyahu: ‘Hamastan’ in West Bank must be prevented Any West Bank land that Israel fails to settle is land made available for another “Hamastan.”

* France could re-open debate on Turkey referendum The major political question of whether France will in future hold a referendum on the EU entry of Turkey and Balkan.

* Sunnis Asked to Reconsider Quiting Gov’t The Iraqi prime minister’s party asked the country’s largest Sunni Arab bloc Thursday to reconsider its withdrawal from government.

* Serbia to reject any proposals of confederation with Kosovo Serbia’s minister for Kosovo confirmed that Belgrade has been receiving off-the-record proposals that it form a confederation with its predominantly Albanian province.

By: Edward Lucas – Daily Mail

Remember the mammoths, say the clean-cut organisers at the youth camp’s mass wedding. “They became extinct because they did not have enough sex. That must not happen to Russia”.

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* S. Arabia pledges to attend US Mideast peace conference Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told the visiting US secretaries of State and Defense Wednesday that his country supported and would attend the Middle East peace conference.

* Iraq Sunni bloc quits coalition Six ministers from Iraq’s Sunni bloc have resigned from the Shia-led government of Nuri al-Maliki, the prime minister, following a month-long dispute.

* Syria to attend ME peace conference Syria is ready to take part in a US-sponsored international Mideast peace conference to be held later this year,.

* Global stock markets take a dive World stock markets fell sharply on Wednesday and currency markets churned as casualties mounted from worsening credit markets and investors scrambled away from riskier assets.

* UN approves Darfur 26,000-strong peacekeeping force The UN Security Council unanimously approved a 26,000-strong peacekeeping force for Darfur on Tuesday.

* Russia claims North Pole with Arctic flag stunt An audacious Russian mission to claim the North Pole for Moscow is due to reach its climax in the next 24 hours.

* Rice in Israel after winning Saudi support for summit The Saudi foreign minister indicated Wednesday that his country may attend a Middle East peace conference proposed by U.S. President George W. Bush.

* IDF goes to battle against draft dodging A day after Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned that the IDF was turning into an “army of half the people” due to the growing numbers of draft dodgers.

* China’s Leaders Make Show of Unity Past and present Chinese leaders appeared together on army day Wednesday.

* Hamas shows proof of PA corruption Two paintings worth $66,000 were presented as a gift to a woman in Paris by the PA, which also paid millions of dollars to cover the personal expenses of senior Fatah officials and their families.

By: Robert Marquand – The Christian Science Monitor

The leader of 1.1 billion Catholics, Pope Benedict XVI, is completing a significant theological shift of the Roman Catholic church – a sweeping change that not only eclipses 40 years of a more moderate and collegial Catholicism, but seeks to reassert the spiritual supremacy of the Vatican and more openly proclaim the authority of the office of pope among all Christians.

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* Iran ‘biggest threat to Mid-East’ US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has warned that Iran poses the biggest threat to US Middle East interests, as she begins a major regional tour.

* Syrian diplomat scorns Bush Mideast proposal Arab League governments were reluctant Monday to support US President Bush’s call for an international conference to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

* Russia Backing Abbas, Supplying Iran Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has thus far received enthusiastic support from Moscow during his three-day trip to Russia this week.

* Golan residents call for talks with Syria The Peace with Syria movement held a conference Monday evening at Kibbutz Gadot with the participation of hundreds of Golan Heights residents.

* Corruption ‘mars Iraq rebuilding’ The US agency overseeing reconstruction in Iraq has told the BBC that economic mismanagement and corruption there are equivalent to “a second insurgency”.

* US funds allies against Iran The US has announced military aid worth more than $43bn to Egypt.

* Sex for the motherland: Russian youths encouraged to procreate at camp Remember the mammoths, say the clean-cut organisers at the youth camp’s mass wedding. “They became extinct because they did not have enough sex. That must not happen to Russia”.

* Barak: Draft dodging a security threat Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned Monday that the growing number of youth who dodge the IDF draft will eventually harm national security.

* Army warns Hebron settlers to evacuate market willingly The Military Advocate General’s office on Monday warned Jewish families residing in Hebron’s old market that should the IDF be instructed to forcefully evacuate them from the site.

* Report: Olmert, Abbas are holding final status talks Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas have been holding secret talks on a final status agreement on the critical issues between Israelis and Palestinians.

* 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?