* Report: Hamas threatens to kill Schalit if IDF enters Gaza Hamas’s armed wing, Izzadin a-Kassam, has threatened to execute kidnapped IDF soldier Cpl. Gilad Schalit if the army enters Gaza.

* King Herod’s ancient tomb ‘found’ An Israeli archaeologist says he has found the tomb of King Herod, the ruler of Judea while it was under Roman administration in the first century BC.

* ‘Rice visit cancellation unprecedented’ A senior diplomatic official called the cancellation of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s Israel visit unprecedented.

* Repeating Lebanon Mistakes in Gaza The recently-released Winograd Report listed one of its main objectives as educational.

* UN: Assad is not preparing for war While Syria is repairing its military positions along the border with Israel, its army has not beefed up its forces on the Golan Heights.

* China, Russia deny weapons breach China and Russia have denied claims by Amnesty International that they are supplying arms to Sudan for use in Darfur, in breach of a UN arms embargo.

* EU urges Serbia to form government, cool on new parliament speaker The European Commission on Tuesday urged Serbian leaders to speed up the formation of a pro-European government, saying that this was needed to resume stalled talks on closer ties.

* Hamas’ Mickey Mouse: Teaching Kids to Hate and Kill Hamas TV has a new children’s show which features a Mickey Mouse lookalike. But this Mickey does not romp about with Pluto, nor does he woo Minnie Mouse. Instead – he teaches his young viewers to fight the “Zionist Occupation” and dream of a world dominated by Islam.

* Arab population in Jerusalem growing, study says The growth rate of the Arab population in Jerusalem is almost double the growth rate of the Jewish population.

* EU predicts brighter economic future The European Commission has raised its growth and jobs expectations for EU economies in the coming two years.

* Livni and aides prepping for possibility of renewed Syria talks Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is currently conducting staff work to prepare for the possibility of a renewed peace process with Syria.

* Victorious Sarkozy pledges unity France’s new President-elect Nicolas Sarkozy has called for unity after a bitterly-contested campaign.

* ‘Jordan has uranium to build a reactor’ Jordan said Saturday the country possessed the uranium needed to develop its newly announced nuclear energy program.

* Hizbullah: Siniora government more hostile than Israel The top Hizbullah commander in southern Lebanon, Nabil Qaouk, slammed Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s government.

* ‘Hizbullah is ready for another war’ “Hizbullah has rebuilt itself and is prepared for another Israeli strike,” Naim Kassem, the deputy secretary general of the Iranian-backed terror organization.

* Future of Dead Sea in Jeopardy Due to Disputes The famously salty sea, which lies at Earth’s lowest point, is shrinking.

* New Turkey president poll fails Turkey’s parliament has failed for a second time to elect the Islamist-rooted governing party’s candidate for president, Abdullah Gul.

* U.S. Navy Replaces Persian Gulf Carriers The U.S. Navy said Sunday that it was maintaining a stepped-up military presence in the Persian Gulf by keeping two aircraft carriers in the area amid tensions with Iran.

* Israel accused of prisoner abuse Human rights groups in Israel have accused the security services of routinely mistreating Palestinian detainees.

* Barak’s delaying tactic saves Olmert’s government – for now Prime Minister Ehud Olmert received some political breathing space from former prime minister Ehud Barak.

* “Israel too unstable to talk Saudi plan” Arab leaders briefed key international players on a newly revived Arab initiative to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but decided to hold off on approaching Israel because of its current political turmoil.

* China claims major oil field find China’s biggest oil firm, PetroChina, says it has made the country’s largest crude discovery in a decade.

* Conference offers plan to bolster Iraqi government Iraq and its neighbors on Friday issued a declaration aimed at rallying support for the Shiite-led government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki from long-reluctant Sunni Arab countries.

* Conference on Iran adjourns in deadlock Under fire for stalling a 130-nation nuclear meeting, Iran accused the US of being the real culprit, as the conference adjourned for the weekend in deep deadlock over Teheran’s opposition to language of the gathering’s agenda.

* Turkish PM, army hold crisis talks Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with the head of Turkey’s armed forces Friday, a week after the military threatened to intervene in an ongoing presidential election if it thought secularism was in danger.

* U.S. Targets Iranian-Made Weapons U.S.-led forces on Friday arrested suspected Shiite militants accused of smuggling powerful bomb components from Iran, and clashes between Shiite factions broke out in two major cities.

* U.S. ‘Benchmark Plan’ May be a Timeline for Terror Israeli officials are worried about a set of so-called “benchmarks” presented last week by U.S. diplomats that would be used as steps toward final status negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.

* Olmert says won’t resign despite public protest Following demonstration attended by 100,000 people against Olmert in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square, the prime minister insists he plans to stay in office, “A government is replaced in elections, not rallies.”

* Egypt weighs moat for Gaza border Egypt has expressed newfound interest in allowing Israel to construct a moat along the Philadelphi Route separating the Sinai Desert from the Gaza Strip to combat Palestinian weapons smuggling.

* Guns banned from Somali streets The new mayor of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, has banned people from carrying weapons on the streets.

* Iran FM attacks US policy in Iraq Iran has issued a strong attack against US policy in Iraq, blaming the American presence there for sectarian violence.

* Olmert not quitting, despite TA protest Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has declared that he has no intention of resigning in the wake of the Winograd report.

* Israeli Envoy: Syrian Build-up – the Strongest Since 1973 War Israel’s Ambassador in Washington says Syria is developing its most serious threat against Israel since it attacked Israel in the Yom Kippur War of 1973.

* Homesh: ‘A settlement renewal point’ With the Israeli public’s morale at an all-time low, now is the time to launch a new bid for increased settlement activity in Judea and Samaria.

* Iran, Syria Hold Conferences on a ‘Culture of Resistance’ As Iran was hosting an international conference this week under the banner “The Muslim World: Victim of Terrorism,” Syria was holding its own international conference on “Arab and Islamic Media Support of the Palestinian People.”

* French poll rivals in final push France’s presidential candidates have started their final day of campaigning ahead of Sunday’s vote.

* Rice holds talks with Syrian FM US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem Thursday.

* Turkish MPs vote for early poll Turkey’s parliament has confirmed that early elections, aimed at ending a crisis over the party’s candidate for president, will be held on 22 July.

* PMO: Israel can’t commit to some of U.S. demands A United States timeline for bolstering Israeli-Palestinian talks met its first resistance on Friday.

* Iran ex-leader in Vatican visit The former president of Iran, Mohammad Khatami, has been received in audience by Pope Benedict XVI in Rome.

* Knesset opens battle to topple Olmert Thursday’s Knesset session will mark the opening battle in the war to topple the Olmert government.

* Iraq pleads for funds to rebuild Iraq’s prime minister has appealed for other countries to write off its debts, at the start of a summit called to try to rebuild and stabilise the country.

* Meridor offers reassurances to Syria Israel’s ambassador to the US said Wednesday his country is privately reassuring its Arab neighbor it is not seeking a confrontation.

* Warrants issued in Darfur conflict The International Criminal Court on Wednesday issued its first arrest warrants in Sudan’s Darfur conflict.

* Army meddling ‘threatens Turkey’s EU chances’ The European Union warned the Turkish military yesterday that its interference in the country’s politics could jeopardise its chances of joining the EU.

* Nasrallah praises Israel’s ‘admission of defeat’ In an unprecedented praise of developments in Israel, Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Wednesday he “respects” his enemy’s verdict of failure in last summer’s war with his guerrillas in Lebanon.

* Turkey headed for snap polls in July A Turkish parliamentary committee Wednesday set July 22 as the date for snap general elections after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for polls to end a simmering crisis over a disputed presidential vote.

* ‘Israel has right to protect itself’ While asserting that Israel’s security is “nonnegotiable,” French presidential front-runner Nicholas Sarkozy also says it must not prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state if peace is to be achieved.

* Army undergoing revolution, Peretz says “The decision to go to war was the right one,” Defense Minister Amir Peretz insisted Wednesday, in a first response to the conclusions of the Winograd Commission.

* Jewish Agency downplays Iraqi aliyah An Iraqi family that reportedly immigrated to Israel this week is not the beginning of a “wave of aliya.”

* Bush vetoes Iraq troop withdrawal measure US President George W. Bush on Tuesday night vetoed legislation to pull US troops out of Iraq in a historic showdown with Congress.

* Shadowy Iraq office accused of sectarian agenda Iraq’s prime minister has created an entity within his government that U.S. and Iraqi military officials say is being used as a smokescreen to hide an extreme Shiite agenda.

* Kadima faction chairman: If Olmert doesn’t resign, I will Kadima faction chairman Avigdor Yitzhaki told Israel Radio on Wednesday morning that if the Prime Minister Ehud Olmert did not heed calls to quit following the Winograd report on the Second Lebanon War.

* Speaker of PA Legislature: Kill Every Last Jew & American In a televised address to a packed mosque, the Acting Speaker of the Palestinian Authority’s Legislative Council called for the killing of every last Jew and American.

* Olmert admits: I am not sure I will get through this The current political crisis might force him out of office, Prime Minister Ehud Olmertht was quoted as saying in a Channel 2 report Tuesday evening.

* Ancient Samaritan sect marks Passover sacrifice near Nablus Dressed in white and spattered in blood, members of the tiny Samaritan sect gathered until the early hours of Tuesday for one of Israel’s most colorful religious ceremonies – the nighttime Passover sacrifice.

* EU officials call for end to PA embargo In a break with EU policy, European parliamentarians met Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas in Gaza City on Tuesday and called for an end to the aid embargo on the Palestinian Authority.

* Russian Political Movements Hold May Day Marches, Rallies in Moscow Thousands of Russians hit the streets of Moscow Tuesday as an array of political forces held marches and rallies on May Day.

* PM calls for new outpost removal plan Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has instructed Defense Minister Amir Peretz to present a plan for the evacuation of the illegal West Bank outposts by the end of the month.

* Will Turkey become an Islamist state? Turkey, the world’s prime example of a mainly Muslim country as a secular democratic state, may be losing that status.

* ‘US vision for new MidEast will fail’ Syrian President Bashar Assad predicted Monday that the US vision for a “new Middle East” would fail as the region’s conflicts continue to escalate.

* Turk court advised to reject challenge: media A Turkish court has been urged to reject an opposition challenge to the presidential election that has split Turkey.

* PM vows to carry on, fix failures In a taped message broadcast on Monday night, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert – reading from a text – admitted that mistakes were made and that the committee’s findings were “grave and difficult.”

* Iran president takes message to people In the town of Khorrambid, 700km south of Tehran, thousands of people have been waiting for Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, the Iranian president.

* Bush Seeks to Reassure Russia on Arms, E.U. on Warming President Bush tried to reassure Russia yesterday that his proposed new missile defense system represents no threat.

* Legal Expert: Findings Mean Olmert Must Resign Following the grave findings of the Winograd Commission on Monday afternoon, Atty. Yosef Fuchs of the Land of Israel Legal Forum issued a statement saying that Olmert has no choice but to resign.

* Hezbollah: Winograd report is proof we were victorious Hezbollah on Monday hailed a report into the Second Lebanon War, which accused the Israeli leadership of serious failures during the conflict.

* Campaign to Upgrade the Old City’s ‘Small Wall’ Unknown to most visitors to the Western Wall, the remnant of the Holy Temple compound extends to the north far beyond what they can see – and a campaign is underway to publicize this.

* Risk of renewed east-west confrontation, says German FM German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has warned of a risk of a new east-west conflict following a sharp deterioration in relations between Moscow and western states in recent months.

* US and EU agree ‘single market’ The United States and the European Union have signed up to a new transatlantic economic partnership at a summit in Washington.

* Egypt slams Palestinian rocket attacks Hamas said on Sunday that its military wing plans to kidnap IDF soldiers if Israel decides to conduct a large-scale ground-invasion of the Gaza Strip.

* Huge rally for Turkish secularism Hundreds of thousands of people have rallied in Istanbul in support of secularism in Turkey, amid a row over a vote for the country’s next president.

* IDF chief: Gaza incursion inevitable Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi indicated at the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday that there may be no choice but to put IDF boots on the ground to stop attacks from Gaza.

* Iran to attend key Iraq meeting Iran says it will attend a key meeting on Iraq’s security situation.

* New Noah’s Ark ready to sail The massive central door in the side of Noah’s Ark was thrown open Saturday drawing a crowd of curious pilgrims and townsfolk to behold the wonder.

* World rallies for Darfur action Protests have taken place around the world to demand intervention to end the fighting in Sudan’s Darfur region.

* Olmert: Herzl’s vision was missing military aspect “(Theodore Herzl) did not only envision, but also built a strong foundation and created tools to transform that vision into a political reality.”

* Poll: Palestinians disillusioned with unity gov’t Palestinians are increasingly disillusioned with political parties and their new unity government and feel more threatened by growing lawlessness.

* Hamas: New Intifada could erupt if West fails to lift embargo Hamas leader Khaled Meshal has warned that Israel could face another Palestinian uprising unless the West lifted its aid embargo and conditions in the Gaza Strip and West Bank improved.

* Turkish army statement sparks EU concern The European Union has warned Turkey’s military to stay out of politics and show respect for democracy.

* Putin steps up missiles warning Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that US plans to build a missile defence system in eastern Europe would raise the risk of “mutual destruction”.

* Catholic bishops to face anti-Semitism The need to step up the fight against anti-Semitism will be a key issue for the world’s Roman Catholic bishops at a meeting at the Vatican next year.

* Blair wants end to “abstract” EU The EU needs to focus on issues of concern to its citizens, rather than spend years on “abstract constitutional debate”, the UK prime minister says.

* Turkish government slams army threat Turkey’s Islamist-rooted government sharply criticised an army threat to intervene in domestic politics and said on Saturday the military must remain under civilian control.

* Global net use makes rapid rise The net is helping to close the digital divide between industrialised nations, suggests a report.

* A 10-day attack could delay Iran’s nuclear race by years “Iran’s nuclear program can be thrown back by years in a ten day attack using thousands of Tomahawk cruise missiles,” Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said.

* EU warns Turkish army over vote The European Union has warned Turkey’s military not to interfere in politics, amid a row over the Islamist-rooted ruling party’s candidate for president.

* Saudi king refuses al-Maliki Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has denied Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki entrance into Saudi Arabia.

* Saudis say terror sweep nets 172 extremists Saudi Arabia announced that an anti-terrorism sweep netted 172 Islamic extremists and stopped plans to mount air attacks on the kingdom’s oil refineries, break militants out of jail and send suicide attackers to kill government officials.

* Dollar at record low against euro The US economy grew at its weakest pace for four years during the first quarter of 2007, figures from the US Commerce Department show.

* IDF prepares for Syrian attack on Golan The IDF on Thursday held intensive training maneuvers in preparation for a feared Syrian attack on the Golan Heights.

* President vote set to split Turks Turkey’s parliament is about to begin voting for a new president, but the election could be overshadowed by an opposition boycott and procedural row.

* Israel may get F-22s if nation at risk The United States would be inclined to allow the sale of advanced stealth F-22 fighter jets to the Israeli Air Force if the State of Israel’s security was in jeopardy.

* Russia’s treaty threat irks Nato Nato members have expressed “grave concern” over Russia’s threat to suspend participation in an arms treaty limiting conventional forces in Europe.

* Livni: Gaza turned into ‘nest of terror’ “The Palestinians are using the security fence as an excuse to continue their violent attacks, but from Israel’s point of view, the fence saves lives and does not diminish the possibility of creating a Palestinian state.

* Jewish Majority: Stable Now; Growth Spurt in 2025 As Israel enters its 60th year, the American-Israel Demographic Research Group (AIDRG) provides some good news: The ground is being prepared for a major Jewish demographic boost, beginning in 2025.

* New plan advocates land swap between Israel, PA Prime Minister Ehud Olmert might have shelved his realignment plan, but one of the plan’s initiators has different ideas.

* Olmert’s future in limbo ahead of Lebanon war report The political future of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, implicated in a series of corruption probes, hung in the balance Thursday ahead of a report on last year’s war against Hezbollah.

* Somali PM Claims Win, but Battles Linger Somalis who fled the government’s offensive against Islamic insurgents in Mogadishu began returning to the shattered capital Friday.

* Senior Algerian Islamist militant killed A leader of an Algerian Islamist group affiliated with Al-Qaeda was killed Thursday in clashes with the army.