Monday, September 22, 2008

09/22/08

* Olmert hands in his official resignation Prime Minister Ehud Olmert - facing a number of corruption allegations - formally tendered his resignation to President Shimon Peres on Sunday evening.

* Israel poised for coalition talks Israel's president is expected to ask Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni to form a new government on Monday.

* Military Intelligence official: Iran underway to having nuclear bomb Brig.-Gen. Yossi Baidatz says Tehran has third of what it needs to build bomb.

* IAEA chief: Iran could be hiding nukes The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency warned that he cannot guarantee that Iran is not running a secret nuclear program.

* Israel can't avoid a military confrontation with Iran Former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Moshe "Boogie" Ya'alon said Israel will not be able to avoid a military confrontation with Iran.

* Abbas aide threatens to dismantle PA Palestinian president's top adviser says PA politicians may take drastic step of disbanding Authority if lasting agreement is not reached during current peace negotiations

* PA chief of staff: We must be ready to retake Hamas-ruled Gaza by force The Palestinian Authority must be ready to use force against Hamas in Gaza "to reunify the homeland," said the head of PA forces in the West Bank.

* Land of Gandhi asserts itself as global military power The Mumbai, an Indian warship, was slicing through choppy monsoon seas one recent morning when a helicopter swooped in overhead.

* One Fatwa Too Far… Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah's efforts to bridge the worrisome schism pitting radical Islam and other religions dissipates like a desert mirage.

* Rome bishops call on EU to protect Christians Italy's Roman Catholic bishops called on the European Union to put the persecutions of Christians on the agenda of the upcoming EU-India summit.