Friday, November 16, 2007

11/16/07

* Israel: IAEA's report 'unacceptable' Israel dismissed a report issued by the UN nuclear watchdog agency on Thursday as "unacceptable."

* Palestinian poll: Annapolis no, peace yes A September 2007 poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion revealed 57.1 percent of Palestinians oppose at various degrees the participation of their leadership in the Annapolis peace conference.

* Russian parliament votes for suspending European arms treaty Russia's upper house of parliament voted Friday to suspend participation in a key European arms control treaty.

* Rice and Ramon Read it Wrong: Israelis Oppose Land Concessions U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice incorrectly estimated this week that most Israeli citizens are willing to hand over Judea and Samaria to the Palestinian Authority.

* EU 'should expand beyond Europe' Foreign Secretary David Miliband has suggested the European Union should work towards including Russia, Middle Eastern and North African countries.

* Russian loophole offers Putin chance of third term Russian President Vladimir Putin could run for re-election in next year's presidential vote if he resigns early to get around a ban on serving three consecutive terms.

* Erekat: PA baffled over 'Jewish Israel' Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat appeared to soften his position Thursday but still rejected Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's call for explicit Palestinian recognition of Israel as "the Jewish state."

* Doomsday vault begins deep freeze Engineers have begun the two-month process of cooling down a "doomsday vault", which will house seeds from all known varieties of key food crops.

* Olmert Considering Re-Opening Orient House to PA Palestinian Authority sources in Jerusalem say they have received signs that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is seriously considering approving Abbas's request to re-open a PA office in Jerusalem.

* Turkish mission to call on Israel to stop Mugrabi dig A Turkish mission sent to Israel to inspect controversial work by Israeli archaeologists at the Mugrabi Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem will advise that all work should stop immediately.