By: Jonathan Fildes – Science and technology reporter, BBC News
Evolutionary theorist Charles Darwin thought the voyage of the Beagle was a “magnificent scheme” allowing him to spend time “larking round the world”.
By: Nissan Ratzlav-Katz – Israel National News
In honor of Jerusalem Day, which begins Tuesday night, archaeologists revealed a number of seals from the time of the Biblical Kings David and Solomon. The seals, along with other recently uncovered artifacts, were displayed for the first time on Monday, at a conference marking 40 years since the liberation and reunification of Jerusalem by the modern State of Israel.
* PM: ‘We’re ready to invite Arab leaders without preconditions’ “We are ready to come and to invite” Arab leaders “without preconditions from our side or theirs,” Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told reporters.
* Atomic Agency Concludes Iran Is Stepping Up Nuclear Work Inspectors for the International Atomic Energy Agency have concluded that Iran appears to have solved most of its technological problems and is now beginning to enrich uranium on a far larger scale than before.
* Mossad Chief Warns of Syrian ‘Tactical’ Negotiations The director of the Israeli espionage agency, the Mossad, told a closed government meeting last week that Syria was broadcasting messages indicating a willingness to enter into negotiations with Israel.
* US, Russia ‘to moderate rhetoric’ Russian President Vladimir Putin and visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have agreed to tone down the rhetoric in public exchanges.
* Pakistan proposes Muslim peace-keeping force in Iraq Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf proposed sending a Muslim peace-keeping force to Iraq as foreign ministers of Islamic countries met on Tuesday to discuss problems facing the Muslim world.
* European parliament marks Jerusalem Day While Israeli officials slammed European diplomats’ boycott of the Knesset’s Jerusalem Day celebration.
* Religious Zionists to continue visits to Temple Mount Religious Zionist rabbis and yeshiva students are planning to continue their visits to the Temple Mount.
* Portugal pushes for June treaty deal As incoming EU presidency in the second half of this year, Portugal has made it clear that if there is no significant agreement on a new treaty in six weeks time.
* Central Bureau of Statistics figures show J’lem is Israel’s largest city Jerusalem is Israel’s largest city, with a jurisdiction of 126,000 dunam and 732,000 residents.
* Gaza faction boosts police ranks About 500 Fatah loyalists have returned to Gaza from police training in Egypt as factional fighting escalates with Fatah’s main Palestinian rival, Hamas.
* US evangelist Jerry Falwell dies Leading US conservative evangelist Rev Jerry Falwell has died in hospital in Virginia after being found unconscious in his office, his assistants said.
* Week of Celebrations in Jerusalem Israel and world Jewry celebrate the 40th anniversary of Jerusalem’s unification in the Six Day War this week.
* ADL: Large portion of Europeans feel Jews too powerful in business A study conducted by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) among five European countries found rising anti-Semitism.
* Pope condemns Marxism Pope Benedict XVI condemned globalization and Marxism as the causes of many of Latin America’s ills on the final day of his trip to Brazil.
* J’lem Mayor: Hamas may take over city At a special cabinet meeting on Jerusalem Sunday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced plans to channel NIS 5.75 billion worth of benefits into the capital over the next five years.
* More than half of Jews willing to divide Jerusalem Fifty-eight percent of the Jewish public in Israel is willing to make concessions in Jerusalem in the frame of a peace agreement with the Palestinians.
* Dozens of rabbis ascend Temple Mount in unprecedented visit Dozens of rabbis from the national Zionist camp visited the Temple Mount on Sunday in order to increase awareness and emphasize Jewish linkage to the site.
* Turks out in force for fresh secular rally Hundreds of thousands of Turks shook off security fears Sunday, marching for secularism and telling the Islamist-rooted government that religion is unwelcome in politics and public life.
* Iran: US will regret any strike The Iranian president has threatened “severe” retaliation if the United States attacks his country.
* Rice in Russia for Missile Defense Talks The major challenge Secretary Rice faces, heading into talks at the Kremlin, is Russia’s still simmering anger at American plans to deploy an anti-missile defense shield in Poland, the Czech Republic and a third – as yet unnamed – nation in the Caucasus.
* Factional clashes renewed in Gaza Fighting has broken out in the Gaza Strip for a second day, with two people killed and at least 10 wounded as rival Palestinian factions exchanged fire.
* Cheney to Iran: US will keep sea open From an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf, US Vice President Dick Cheney warned Iran that the US and its allies will keep it from restricting sea traffic as well as from developing nuclear weapons.
* Russia clinches gas pipeline deal Russia, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan have agreed to build a new natural gas pipeline north from the Caspian Sea.
* Iraq missing up to $15 million of oil daily report says Between $5-million and $15-million worth of oil a day is unaccounted for in Iraq and could have been siphoned off through corruption or smuggling.
* Jordan’s king to meet Abbas in W. Bank Jordan’s King Abdullah II will meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.
* Serbia back on EU course, Brussels says Serbia has taken a significant step on the road to EU membership, Brussels said after the country’s reform- and Europe-oriented parties ended a three-month election deadlock and agreed to form a new government.
* Peres says Israel ready for ‘serious’ Arab peace talks Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres said Saturday that Israel is ready for serious discussions with Arab nations over a revived proposal for peace with the Jewish state.
* Brown reviews strategy on Iraq Gordon Brown plans to fly to Iraq to review British policy and troop numbers after using the launch of his leadership campaign yesterday to try to make a decisive break with the Blair era.
* Hamas’ Mickey Mouse back on air A weekly children’s show on a Hamas-run TV station, featuring a Mickey Mouse lookalike preaching Islamic domination, was broadcast as usual Friday, despite an earlier announcement by the Palestinian information minister that it would be pulled off the air for a review.
* Nasrallah: Arab peace plan is lifeline for Olmert Hizbullah leader says Saudi peace initiative rescues Israel from difficult situation after last summer’s “defeat”
* Palestinian gov’t officials deny Abbas will meet Olmert in Petra Senior Palestinian government officials denied on Saturday reports of an expected three-way meeting in Jordan between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, and King Abdullah II, maintaining that Abbas does not intend to come to Petra.
By: Gavriel Fiske – The Jerusalem Post
The Hurva Synagogue once dominated the skyline of the Old City, but it and the entire Jewish Quarter were systematically destroyed by Jordanian forces after they took control following the War of Independence. The Jewish population had fled, but after the decisive victories of 1967, the Israeli government immediately began to resettle and rebuild the quarter.
By: Hillel Fendel – Israel National News
Organizers of the upcoming Christian-Jewish events in Jerusalem say no missionary activity is involved; Israel’s Chief Rabbis say they will review a ban on participation in the events ordered by a Rabbinate subcommittee.
* Saniora: Arab states don’t want to wipe Israel off the map “The Arab states are not seeking to wipe Israel off the map,” Lebanese Prime Minister Faud Saniora claimed.
* New Jerusalem settlement planned The Israeli authorities are planning to build three new Jewish neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem, an area regarded as occupied land under international law.
* Arab League drops conditions on talks in Israel The Arab League has dropped its preconditions to sending a delegation to Israel to discuss the Arab Peace Initiative.
* Turkish MPs back reform package Turkey’s parliament has approved a major constitutional amendment that allows the president to be elected by the people rather than MPs.
* US official: Bush gov’t appeasing Arabs The Bush administration is undertaking much of its current Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy to appease the Arabs and Europeans.
* Islamic Movement Initiates Effort to Flood Temple Mount Sheikh Raad Salah, the head of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement, has been working hard to ensure that thousands of Muslims will arrive in Jerusalem’s Old City every day to pray in the Al-Aksa mosque.
* Nasa unveils Hubble’s successor The US space agency Nasa has unveiled a model of a space telescope that scientists say will be able to see to the farthest reaches of the Universe.
* Hizbullah training for attacks on US – Telemundo Hizbullah has set up a training facility in South America as part of its plan to launch terror attacks against the United States.
* China appoints envoy for Darfur China has appointed a special Africa envoy to focus on Darfur following criticism of its role in Sudan.
* Chief Rabbinate to Review Ban Organizers of the upcoming Christian-Jewish events in Jerusalem say no missionary activity is involved.
* Blair will stand down on 27 June Tony Blair has announced he will stand down as prime minister on 27 June.
* Arab League delegates to visit Israel; will present peace plan Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak agreed Thursday that in the coming weeks an Arab League delegation would visit Israel.
* Rival groups join forces in Gaza A major Palestinian security operation has begun in Gaza, in a joint effort by rival political parties to crack down on violence and lawlessness.
* Assad: Israel not ready for just peace Syrian President Bashar Assad said Thursday the current Israeli government was weak and is not prepared for a just peace with the Arabs, but cautioned that it could still wage war.
* Cheney Leaves Iraq After Visit With Troops Vice President Dick Cheney left Iraq today, flying on to the United Arab Emirates on a tour of the Middle East, after spending the night at an American military base outside Tikrit.
* Hamas TV drops militant Mickey Mouse A program using a Mickey Mouse-like character to urge Palestinian children to fight Israel and the West and work for world Islamic domination has been pulled off Hamas’s television station.
* Pope seeks to win over Brazil’s youth Pope Benedict is appealing directly to Brazil’s youth to follow a strict moral code in a country where the government hands out free condoms and many Roman Catholics ignore Church teachings.
* Putin likens U.S. foreign policy to that of Third Reich President Vladimir Putin of Russia obliquely compared the foreign policy of the United States to the Third Reich.
* Iranian cleric threatens Tel Aviv An Iranian cleric said his country would fire “tens of thousands” of missiles at Israel in response to an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear program.
* Voting and veto issues to dominate EU constitution discussions The voting system and where member states should have a right to a veto are shaping up to be the two biggest issues at the treaty summit next month in Brussels.
* Kadima MK: Peres is suited to replace Olmert as prime minister Kadima MK David Tal said Wednesday that Vice Premier Shimon Peres is suited to be prime minister.
* France wants to save major part of EU constitution, Sarkozy aide says France’s Nicolas Sarkozy will seek to maintain as much of the rejected EU constitution as possible in the upcoming talks on a new treaty for the bloc.
* Ban worried by arms race in Lebanon In a report to the United Nations Security Council, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon warned that despite Syria’s continued denial of arms transfers across the Lebanese border, reports from Israel and “other member states” reveal ongoing arms trafficking, most of which are reported to reach Hizbullah.
* Cheney in Baghdad for key talks Visiting US Vice-President Dick Cheney has met Iraq’s political leaders and US army chiefs to discuss security and attempts at political reconciliation.
* ‘US support for Israel at all-time high’ America’s support of Israel is greater than ever, veteran pollster Stanley Greenberg told the Knesset’s Subcommittee on Foreign and Public Relations.
* UN attacked for spreading Christianity? A deadly attack Monday against a United Nations school in the Gaza Strip was carried by an Islamist extremist group.
* Dayton Plan: Benchmarks won’t work in the Middle East The word “benchmarks” is heard quite frequently these days in IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) corridors.
* You’ll return from Gaza in a coffin, Hamas warns Israel Any Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip will be met with a harsh response on the part of the Palestinian organizations, a Hamas spokesperson said.
* ‘Israel prevents PA economic recovery’ The Palestinian economy can’t recover unless Israel dismantles a network of obstacles that has carved up the West Bank into a dozen enclaves and restricted Palestinian access to more than half the territory, the World Bank said.
* Increasing number of rabbis are allowing Jews to enter Temple Mount An increasing number of religious Zionist rabbis are allowing their followers to enter the Temple Mount.