* Hamas Builds Up War Machine in Gaza The IDF Southern Command Chief, speaking with foreign diplomats and reporters in Jerusalem on Wednesday, painted a grim picture of the war threats from Gaza.
* Hizbullah: Olmert confirmed what we knew "Prime Minister Ehud Olmert admitted that it was decided to open the July war four months before the operation to kidnap the two Israeli soldiers.
* UNIFIL wants ability to fight Hizbullah UNIFIL would like a more aggressive mandate for its forces to engage Hizbullah on their own.
* Egypt forbids 2,000 pilgrims from visiting Israel Some 2,000 Coptic and Greek Orthodox Christians in Egypt have been forbidden from making a pilgrimage to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in east Jerusalem this coming Easter.
* UNESCO Mughrabi report due in days A week after a group of UNESCO officials toured the contested Israeli archaeological dig under way outside Jerusalem's Temple Mount, the organization has still not published its findings.
* Olmert's political fortunes sink to new lows Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's political fortunes crashed to new lows Thursday.
* Shi'ite leaders squabble with Arabs over Baghdad conference The Iraqi government and Arab countries have broken into bitter squabbling ahead of a Baghdad conference on Saturday.
* Merkel tables outline for citizen-friendly EU birthday text Enlargement has emerged as a topic of controversy surrounding the EU's 50th anniversary declaration.
* Sudanese seek refuge in Israel from Darfur Collective farms that for decades formed the Zionist backbone of Israel today shelter scores of Muslim refugees from Sudan who walked into the Jewish state to flee persecution.
* Petraeus: Force will not solve Iraq The new US military commander in Iraq has admitted that military might alone cannot solve the ongoing violence in the country.