* 'Israel will attack Iran on its own' "I came back from a trip to Israel in November convinced that Israel would attack Iran," Bruce Riedel, a former CIA official and senior adviser to three US presidents, George W. Bush among them, told the American Newsweek magazine.
* PA TV Brings Back Program Showcasing Martyrs' "70 Virgins" A Palestinian Authority TV mainstay is back on the screen, with the Virgins of Paradise reminding would-be suicide bomber terrorist shahids (martyrs) of the reward that awaits them.
* 'Fall of Hamas needed to promote peace' A military incursion into Gaza to remove Hamas is needed if there is to be any real diplomatic process with the Palestinians.
* Olmert Gov't Bows to US Pressure, Nixes J'lem Neighborhood Wednesday's leak of a municipal plan to build a new Jerusalem neighborhood on land of a moshav destroyed in the War of Independence has caused the repudiation of the plan in the face of American pressure.
* Russian gas deal dashes EU hopes Russia, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan have signed a landmark deal to build a gas pipeline.
* 'Ramon pursuing bill promoting voluntary W. Bank evacuation' Deputy Prime Minister Haim Ramon is looking into possible legislation which would offer compensation to settlers willing to leave their West Bank residencies.
* Petraeus lauds Iraq violence fall The top US military commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, has described the recent fall in violence in Iraq as a "significant accomplishment".
* Millions stone the devil The 60-year-old Egyptian farmer spent years scraping together $11,000 to bring his wife and son here to perform Islam's hajj pilgrimage.
* Putin, the Kremlin power struggle and the $40bn fortune An unprecedented battle is taking place inside the Kremlin in advance of Vladimir Putin's departure from office.
* Over 400 Prominent Scientists Disputed Man-Made Global Warming Claims in 2007 Over 400 prominent scientists from more than two dozen countries recently voiced significant objections to major aspects of the so-called "consensus" on man-made global warming.