* General says Iraq talks critical The top US general in Iraq says the military alone cannot provide a solution to the country’s conflict.

* Iraq: Hopes High For Baghdad Security Conference Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki says he hopes an international conference hosted by Baghdad will help build a regional consensus on how to end violence in his country.

* Sudan ‘paralyzing’ aid to Darfur The Sudanese government is “paralyzing” the aid operation in its conflict-torn western region of Darfur, the US special envoy to Sudan has said.

* IAEA freezes nuclear technical aid programs to Iran Delegates to a 35-nation meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency on Thursday approved the suspension of nearly two dozen nuclear technical aid programs to Iran.

* New York State Assemblyman Purchases a Home in Samaria The Amanah Settlement Organization, helping to keep Israel’s Biblical heartland Jewish, held a fair in a Teaneck synagogue recently.

* Abdullah: America’s moral vision can be asserted by leadership in peace Jordan’s King Abdullah came to the US Congress on Wednesday to stress that the “core issue” facing the Middle East is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

* Netanyahu calls for early elections Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu called for early elections on Wednesday.

* Millions of Shiite pilgrims pour into Iraq holy city Around 2.5 million Shiite pilgrims flooded the Iraqi holy city of Karbala Thursday.

* Hungary’s Jewish leaders fear attacks Leaders of Hungary’s Jewish community have called on the country’s Jewish residents to raise their alert level.

* Serbian and Kosovar negotiators prepare for diplomatic showdown The embittered Belgrade and optimistic Pristina negotiators huddled in their respective headquarters Thursday ahead of what were to be their last talks.

* ‘Monetary crisis threatens PA existence’ The Palestinian Authority faces a fiscal crisis that could threaten its existence.

* Syria seeking new Russian aircraft Syria has approached Moscow with a request to purchase new Sukhoi 30 fighter aircraft as part of Damascus’ drive to upgrade its ailing army.

* Mashaal says Israel will ‘disappear’ Israel will eventually disappear from the world, and the Palestinians should be prepared for that, Israel Radio reported Hamas leader-in-exile Khaled Mashaal saying.

* Left-Wing Activists, Arabs Plan to Build Unauthorized Outposts Israeli left-wing activists, together with foreign PLO supporters, plan to build outpost settlements and plant trees on behalf of Arab residents in Judea and Samaria.

* Iran to attend conference on Iraq Iran will attend the international conference on Iraq that will be held in Baghdad on Saturday.

* Missing Iranian general in Europe Arabic-language newspaper quotes top Iranian military official as saying that Ali Reza Asgari is being questioned by Western military experts.

* Hamas vows full truce if Israel helps end boycott If Israel agrees to persuade the international community not to boycott the new Palestinian unity government, the Palestinians “will offer a promise from Hamas and Fatah of a total cease-fire with Israel.

* Israelis told to leave Egypt, Jordan Israel Wednesday warned nationals who may be visiting regional allies Egypt and Jordan to leave immediately, citing a “very high concrete threat” to their safety.

* Serbia receives EU membership horizon The EU on Tuesday (6 March) gave a boost to Serbia’s stumbling path to eventual membership of the bloc.

* Islamic Movement head arrested in protest against Mugrabi dig The head of the northern branch of Israel’s Islamic Movement, Sheikh Ra’ad Salah, was arrested on Wednesday in East Jerusalem.

* Mashaal secures Iranian pledge of funds for Hamas Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal extracted from Iran Tuesday a pledge to fund his radical Palestinian movement.

* Hamas trains militants in Iran, Shin Bet chief says The Islamic Hamas, which runs the Palestinian government, has sent dozens of militants to Iran for training.

* Iran: Missing general likely kidnapped Iran officially announced on Tuesday that its former deputy defense minister was missing while on a private trip to neighboring Turkey.

* Israel, Iran top ‘negative list’ A majority of people believe that Israel and Iran have a mainly negative influence in the world, a poll for the BBC World Service suggests.

* Abdullah to US: Focus on Palestinians Jordan’s King Abdullah met with high-level US officials Monday.

* PM Olmert and PA Chairman Abbas to meet next week Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas will meet next week for their second summit.

* Poll: More Americans pro-Israeli Americans are more pro-Israeli in their views today than they were 10 and 20 years ago.

* China confirms Moon probe in 2007 China will launch its first lunar probe this year, and expects to be able to land a man on the Moon within 15 years, a senior space official has confirmed.

* EU rifts deepen over US missile shield plan US plans to build an anti-missile shield in Poland and the Czech republic have led to open divisions within the EU.

* Russia capable of hitting US missile shield: general Russia’s bomber force would have no trouble destroying planned US missile defense sites in Europe.

* Arabs to re-offer Israel peace deal The Arab League plans to offer Israel the same land-for-peace deal it made in 2002, without changes Israel has been seeking.

* China to increase military spending China will boost military spending by 17.8 percent this year.

* Iran Denies Reported Support for 2002 Saudi Peace Plan A report by the Saudi Press Agency on Sunday said that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad expressed support for Saudi-authored 2002 Arab plan for peace with Israel.

* Iran’s Ahmadinejad visits Saudi amid regional crises Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad left Saudi Arabia late Saturday after talks with King Abdullah.

* Turkey defies EU with own accession agenda Turkey has announced a “new strategy” in its EU relations, turning its focus away from the official Brussels accession talks timetable.

* Abbas, Haniyeh fail to make progress Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh failed to make progress on talks toward forming a unity government, an official said.

* World stock drop hits second week The global stock market slump has powered into its second week, pushing the UK’s main share index below 6,000 for the first time since October.

* Olmert meets with US official on Iran US Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey held a series of meetings in Jerusalem Sunday.

* Report warns against Iran attack Military strikes against Iran could speed Tehran’s development of nuclear weapons, according to a UK think tank.

* Birthday declaration puts Merkel to EU constitution test German chancellor Angela Merkel is facing the first real test of her efforts to push a revised EU constitution.

* Suspected Insurgents Kill 6 Sunnis Outside Baghdad Police in Iraq say gunmen have shot and killed six Sunni civilians in a raid on a house outside Baghdad.

* Iran president to Saudi on first official trip Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad left on Saturday for his first official trip to Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally that is leading a diplomatic drive to curb Tehran’s growing influence in Lebanon and Iraq.

* US Reports Swift Progress on New Iran Resolution U.S. officials are reporting rapid progress in talks among the major powers on a new U.N. Security Council resolution penalizing Iran for refusing to stop enriching uranium.

* 6 Sunnis Killed Execution-Style in Apparent Retaliation for Talking to Shiites Gunmen stormed the home of a Sunni family threatened with death for meeting with local Shiites, separating out the women and children and executing six men on Saturday, Iraqi police and military officials said.

* Gaddafi says fear drives world economic system Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi criticized the world financial system as a dictatorship based on fear on Friday but said Libya’s only pragmatic choice after sanctions was to accept the unfair reality of world trade.

* Putin’s Choice Approved as New President of Chechnya Chechnya’s parliament has approved a former rebel leader as the war-torn region’s president.

* ‘No reward’ for non-nuclear Libya Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has said his country has not been given adequate compensation for its decision to renounce nuclear weapons in 2003.

* Pakistan military tests missile Pakistan says it has successfully tested a short-range missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

* U.S. air strikes target insurgents in Iraq U.S. air strikes in and around Baghdad killed senior insurgents suspected of targeting U.S. helicopters and seven members of what the U.S. military said on Saturday was an al Qaeda cell responsible for car bombings.

* J’lem slams Russian decision to supply weapons to Syria Jerusalem aimed harsh criticism at Russia on Friday for its decision to supply Syria with advanced missiles.

* Israel pushing to improve Saudi peace initiative ahead of Riyadh summit Israel is expecting the Arab League to adopt an improved version of the Saudi peace plan at a summit meeting called for the end of this month in Riyadh.

* Syria ups army infrastructure on border Syria has spent the past few months constructing and moving infrastructure to its southern border that could be used to launch a war against Israel.

* Western intelligence sources worried by jihadist upsurge in Lebanon Western intelligence agencies are worried by a growing concentration of terror operatives associated with the global jihad movement in Lebanon.

* Peretz, Olmert at odds over outposts Defense Minister Amir Peretz’s determination to evacuate illegal West Bank settlements may put him on a collision course with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

* Vatican, not Afghanistan, sunk Prodi The plan to give same sex couples some legal rights was able to hijack an essential and poignant issue such as the Afghanistan-NATO vote.

* Ahmadinejad visit to Saudi Arabia confirmed in Tehran Tehran confirmed Friday a state visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Saudi Arabia.

* Ahmadinejad Blames U.S., Israel for Wars Iran’s president blamed the United States and Israel for the world’s problems.

* Pre-Purim “Fast of Esther” Today he joyous month of Adar takes a “day off” to commemorate the fasting and prayers led by Queen Esther against the genocidal decree of the evil Haman.

* Hungarian PM warns of rise in anti-Semitism Gyurcsany tells Times newspaper, ‘There have never been so many anti-Semitic remarks as now’.

By: The Associated Press – on The Jerusalem Post

* Zionists ‘incarnation of Satan,’ says Ahmadinejad Zionists are the “true incarnation of Satan,” Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in his latest verbal assault on Tehran’s arch foe Israel.

* ‘Arab peace plan currently unacceptable’ Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told the Palestinian daily Al Ayamm in an interview published Thursday morning that “Israel could not accept the Arab peace initiative.

* Iran positive on Iraq conference Iran says it will take part in a planned security conference in Iraq, to be attended by the US, if it is “in Iraq’s best interests”.

* Israel not ‘threatened’ by US-Iran talks A day after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the US would take part in a “neighbors meeting” with Syrian and Iranian representatives on stabilizing Iraq, Israeli officials said Jerusalem had no need to “feel threatened”.

* Chinese stocks slide again China’s main stock index fell more than 3 per cent in early trade on Thursday.

* Rabbis aim to renew animal sacrifices A fringe group of extremist rabbis wants to resume the biblical practice of animal sacrifice at Jerusalem’s Temple Mount.

* Spain and Germany up pressure on EU constitution Spain has reaffirmed its role of a vocal promotor of the EU constitution with renewed criticism of the UK, France and the Netherlands.

* First peacekeepers are in Somalia A small advance team of African Union troops has arrived in Somalia, say officials in the country.

* China urges Iran to halt enrichment China urged Iran on Thursday to halt uranium enrichment and step up efforts to reach a peaceful, negotiated solution.

* Senior Palestinian official: Drop demands for Israel recognition The international community can drop its demand that the incoming Palestinian government recognize Israel because the Palestinians’ supreme authority – the Palestine Liberation Organization – already does so, a senior Palestinian figure said.

* US inviting Iran, Syria for Iraq talks The United States and the Iraqi government are launching a new diplomatic initiative to invite Iran and Syria to a “neighbors meeting” on stabilizing Iraq.

* World stock slump hits second day Worldwide share prices have continued to fall, triggered by Tuesday’s 9% losses on the Shanghai stock market.

* Israel to UN: Stop Hizbullah arms flow Israel is considering taking action to stop the smuggling of weapons from Syria to Hizbullah.

* U.S. Intelligence Official Says Putin’s Advisers Threaten Democracy in Russia Russia has taken a step backward in its democratic progress and could be heading toward a controlled succession to President Vladimir Putin.

* Lieberman: We are capable of facing the Iranian threat alone “This government is doing more than any other government to deal with the Iranian nuclear issue. Even if we will have to face the Iranian threat alone.

* Present-day Sanhedrin court seeks to revive ancient Temple rituals The present-day Sanhedrin Court decided Tuesday to purchase a herd of sheep for ritual sacrifice at the site of the Temple on the eve of Passover.

* Pluto probe flies past Jupiter A small spacecraft en route to Pluto flew past Jupiter early on Wednesday.

* CIA: Bin Laden In Pakistan Establishing New Camps In the most definitive statement in years, America’s top intelligence official said Tuesday Osama bin laden is in Pakistan actively re-establishing al Qaeda training camps.

* Iraqi forces crush ‘heretic’ Shiite cult, claim victory over Al Qaeda Sunnis When the “Battle of Zarqa” erupted January 28 in the date palm orchards of Zarqa, 16 kilometers northeast of the holy city of Najaf, the conflict seemed clear.

* European Commission made stronger by enlargement The European Commission has been strengthened by enlargement as the 27 member states look to it to bring order into the EU house.