Monday, June 16, 2008

06/16/08

* Bush and Brown's warning to Iran Gordon Brown and President George Bush have warned Iran to accept their "offers of partnership" or face tough sanctions and international isolation.

* Historian: Jewish Towns Populated by Arab Late-Comers Historian Dr. Rivka Shpak-Lissak has embarked on an ambitious project, detailing the history of Jewish towns in the Land of Israel that are now known as Arab.

* UN chief: Saudi to boost oil production Saudi Arabia plans to increase its oil production by 200,000 barrels a day next month, the kingdom's oil minister told U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon on Sunday, according to Ban's spokesman.

* 'Rice's criticism ruffles few feathers' US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's harsh criticism of Israel's plan to continue building in east Jerusalem met with little panic and no formal response on Sunday, a sign - one government source said - that with less than five months to the US elections, "it is not that important what she says anymore."

* Egypt says it wants Iran to play positive role Egypt constantly calls on Iran to use its influence in the Middle East in a positive manner, according to Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

* Gov't approves e. J'lem housing project A Jerusalem Municipality plan to build tens of thousands of new apartments in the city, including a couple thousand flats in various Jewish neighborhoods of east Jerusalem, has received final approval, the municipality said Sunday.

* Get Osama Bin Laden before I leave office, orders George W Bush President George W Bush has enlisted British special forces in a final attempt to capture Osama Bin Laden before he leaves the White House.

* Nuclear ring reportedly had advanced design American and international investigators say that they have found the electronic blueprints for an advanced nuclear weapon on computers that belonged to the nuclear smuggling network run by Abdul Qadeer Khan, the rogue Pakistani nuclear scientist, but that they have not been able to determine whether they were sold to Iran or the smuggling ring's other customers.

* Split emerges in EU after Ireland rejects treaty After Ireland's rejection of the Lisbon Treaty, a split began to emerge Sunday in European capitals over whether to press Dublin to hold another vote - with an implicit threat to consign the Irish to an outer tier of the European Union should they say no again.

* Greens have big doubts about Red-Dead Canal Five of the largest environmental organizations in Israel launched a joint public pressure campaign on Sunday to halt what they see as the headlong rush to begin the Red-Dead Sea canal project before feasibility studies have been completed.