* Fatah militants storm parliament Fatah gunmen have stormed the Hamas-controlled Palestinian parliament building in Ramallah in the West Bank.

* Gates pushes Iraq’s leaders on reconciliation U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates met Iraqi leaders for talks in Baghdad on Saturday to tell them Washington is disappointed with their efforts.

* US forces in new Iraq offensive US forces in Iraq have launched a major security offensive around Baghdad.

* Lebanese army unleashes barrage of shells on camp Lebanese troops unleashed an intense artillery bombardment Saturday against positions of Islamist fighters who have been holed up inside a refugee camp for almost a month.

* Report: PA premier denies completing gov’t’s formation Newly appointed Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad hasn’t completed the formation of his new government yet.

* Crowd loots Gaza home of Arafat A crowd on Saturday looted the home of longtime Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, destroying one of the strongest symbols of the Fatah movement in the Gaza Strip.

* Hamas threatens to expand fighting against Fatah to W. Bank Hamas on Saturday threatened to retaliate against Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ forces in the West Bank.

* Berlin avoids adding voting issue to EU treaty review list Berlin has identified seven outstanding problems to be discussed at next week’s EU leader’s summit .

* US debate over Iran strategy erupts A debate on US strategy regarding how the country plans to deal with Iran’s nuclear program within President George Bush’s administration has broken out.

* Secret new plan for EU superstate Tony Blair wants to hand the European Union radical new powers in his last act as Prime Minister.

* Abbas appoints Salam Fayyad as new PA prime minister Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas appointed former finance minister Salam Fayyad as the new PA prime minister on Friday.

* Olmert appoints Barak defense minister The government unanimously approved the appointment of newly elected Labor Party Chairman Ehud Barak as Israel’s next defense minister.

* Fighting flares at Lebanon camp Four Lebanese soldiers have been killed in renewed clashes with Islamist militants entrenched in a Palestinian refugee camp, officials say.

* US to continue training Abbas’ guard The United States will continue financing the Palestinian Authority’s presidential guard.

* Final ‘surge’ troops arrive in Iraq The US military has said it completed the deployment of extra troops to Iraq as part of the “surge” aimed at curbing sectarian violence.

* ‘Multinational force must fight Hamas’ A proposed multinational force deployed along the Gaza Strip’s border with Egypt must be willing to fight Hamas to stop weapons smuggling in the area.

* Turkey president calls referendum Turkey’s president has called a referendum on plans to for the head of state to be elected directly by the public rather than by parliament.

* Arab Media Reports Syria Making Preparations for War with Israel A Qatari newspaper, Al Watan, reported Friday that Syria is making concrete preparations for war with Israel.

* The fall of Gaza First Hamas won at the ballot box, now it has won again, with bullets.

* US sticks to European missile shield plan NATO and Washington have poured cold water on Moscow’s offer to use a Russia-operated radar base in Azerbaijan.

By: Daniel Howden – The Independent

Scientists challenge major review of global reserves and warn that supplies will start to run out in four years’ time

Read more….

By: Daniel Pipes – The Jerusalem Post

Barring a “catastrophic development,” reports Middle East Newsline, George W. Bush has decided not to attack Iran. An administration source explains that Washington deems Iran’s cooperation “needed for a withdrawal [of US forces] from Iraq.”

Read more….

* Hamas seizes second Fatah base Hamas fighters continue to seize control of key Fatah security installations across Gaza as the Palestinian government teeters on the brink of collapse.

* Arab League urges immediate PA truce The head of the Arab league on Thursday warned of a “disastrous outcome” if the bloody infighting between Hamas and Fatah continues.

* ‘Gaza will become Hamastan if Israel does not act’ “The irresponsible pullout from Gaza allowed Hamas to arm itself with mass amounts of explosives, weapons and funds that flowed into the Strip.”

* World oil supplies are set to run out faster than expected, warn scientists Scientists have criticised a major review of the world’s remaining oil reserves, warning that the end of oil is coming sooner than governments and oil companies are prepared to admit.

* Can the IAF take out Iran’s nukes? Barring a “catastrophic development,” reports Middle East Newsline, George W. Bush has decided not to attack Iran.

* Huge bird dino unearthed in China The fossilized remains of a giant bird-like dinosaur have been uncovered in the region of Inner Mongolia, China.

* General: China taking on U.S. in cyber arms race China is seeking to unseat the United States as the dominant power in cyberspace.

* Protest planned against gay parade A major haredi protest Sunday against next week’s gay parade in Jerusalem is likely to turn violent.

* Giscard calls on EU leaders to be honest on new treaty The architect of the draft EU constitution has called on national governments to be honest about what they are trying to achieve with negotiations on a new-look treaty.

* ‘Israel knows, understands Syria well’ A UN special envoy for the Middle East said Thursday after meeting a top Syrian official that there is a “different atmosphere” in Israel toward Syria.

By: Reuters

China is seeking to unseat the United States as the dominant power in cyberspace, a U.S. Air Force general leading a new push in this area said Wednesday.

“They’re the only nation that has been quite that blatant about saying, ‘We’re looking to do that,”‘ 8th Air Force Commander Lt. Gen. Robert Elder told reporters.

Read more….

By: Hillel Fendel – Israel National News

Israel’s ninth president, Shimon Peres, was born in 1923 in Poland, and came to the Holy Land when he was 11 years old. He served in many and varied positions in the Haganah and Israeli government, and received the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize, together with Yitzchak Rabin and arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat, for his role in forging the Oslo Accords.

Read more….

* Abbas warns of collapse in Gaza Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has warned that continuing violence in Gaza risks taking the region to the point of collapse.

* Barak wins Labor primary race Former prime minister Ehud Barak stepped back into the political limelight early Wednesday morning when he defeated MK Ami Ayalon.

* Beirut blast kills politician A car bomb has hit Beirut’s seafront Corniche al-Manara killing at least four people and injuring 10 more.

* Syria ready to discuss land for peace Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Ahmad Arnous stated Tuesday that Damascus was willing to join Israel at the negotiating table.

* Solana says EU would consider military role in Gaza if asked The European Union would consider participating in an international force in Gaza if asked by the major players in the region.

* Shimon Peres elected ninth president Vice Premier Shimon Peres put an end to his historic losing streak Wednesday by beating MKs Reuven Rivlin (Likud) and Colette Avital (Labor) to become Israel’s ninth president.

* Beit El Celebrates Wool-Shearing Surrounded by hundreds of happy children, the last of a herd of five sheep had its wool shorn in Beit El Tuesday afternoon.

* Analysis: It all comes back to Iran Press rewind, stop at May 15, hit play and you’ll reel from a sense of deja vu.

* Prime Minister Maliki of Iraq likens s conflict to U.S. Civil War Iraq’s embattled prime minister compared the fight for order in Iraq with the U.S. Civil War almost 150 years ago.

* Police approve Gay Pride parade Police on Wednesday approved the Jerusalem Gay Pride march, paving the way for the parade to take place next Thursday.

By: Neil Buckley and Catherine Belton in St Petersburg – Financial Times

Russian president Vladimir Putin called on Sunday for a radical overhaul of the world’s financial and trade institutions to reflect the growing economic power of emerging market countries – including Russia.

Read more….

* Hamas TV: We have taken over the northern Gaza Strip Hamas launched a full-scale attack Tuesday afternoon against Fatah security bases and positions in Gaza.

* President warns of Hamas ‘coup’ Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has accused elements within Hamas of trying to seize power in Gaza by force.

* Sarkozy invites Hizbullah to France In a significant diplomatic shift, French President Nicolas Sarkozy will invite Hizbullah to take part in a conference on Lebanon.

* Hundreds of rightists arrive at evacuated West Bank settlement Hundreds of settlers and right-wing activists arrived at the evacuated West Bank settlement of Homesh on Tuesday.

* Ancient Rome brought back to life Ancient Rome has been brought back to life through a unique digital reconstruction project, said to be the world’s biggest computer simulation.

* EU Breaks Freeze on Funding PA The European Union has agreed to transfer 4 million euros (approximately $5 million) to the coffers of the Palestinian Authority government.

* Polls show Ami Ayalon, Ehud Barak are neck and neck Labor Party members set off for the polls across the country on Tuesday to choose between former prime minister Ehud Barak and MK Ami Ayalon to elect the party’s sixth leader in eight years.

* ‘Harassment’ mars Egyptian vote The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt has accused the authorities of harassing its candidates and committing widescale irregularities during Monday’s voting.

* Missile defence spat a diversion China believes the US system could destabilise Asia and demonstrated disapproval with a dramatic missile shoot down of a redundant Chinese space vehicle.

* 4,000 celebrate Taglit event in J’lem As the Taglit-Birthright Israel “Mega-Event” came to a close, four thousand Jewish college students from all over the world danced in the aisles of the Sultan’s Pool stadium.