Monday, February 23, 2009

02/23/09

* Al Qaeda No. 2 warns against Gaza truce Al Qaeda's No. 2 warned Palestinians in Gaza against accepting a truce with Israel in an audio message posted on extremist Web sites.

* EU worried over Bibi's peace plans EU officials raised concerns Monday over the commitment of Prime Minister-designate Binyamin Netanyahu to pursue genuine peace talks with the Palestinians.

* Global jihad could be behind rockets Al-Qaida affiliated global jihadi groups could be playing an important role in the trickle of rocket fire and border attacks being directed against Israel.

* New U.S. Intel Chief: Support of Israel Not a U.S. Interest A flurry of reports over the weekend said that the former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, considered a sharp critic of Israel, is to be named to a top intelligence post in the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama.

* Iran secretly accelerated A-bomb drive Iran is speeding ahead toward the production of a nuclear weapon, and is operating a shadow nuclear program in tandem with its public program to achieve that goal.

* Israelis split on taking Evangelical charity More than 40 percent of Israeli Jews, including nearly 80% of the Orthodox, believe Jewish groups should not accept charity from evangelical Christian organizations.

* EU Commission hails enlargement The European Commission says the 27-nation EU must not let the current economic crisis jeopardise the gains of eastward enlargement.

* EU nations call for better financial regulation Leaders from the EU's largest economies have called for stricter regulation of the financial sector to prevent a repetition of the current crisis.

* Brown: World needs "Global New Deal" The world needs a "global New Deal" to haul it out of the economic crisis it faces said UK PM Gordon Brown.

* Peace Winner Blair Wins $1 Million, Wants Hamas Part of Solution The University of Tel Aviv has awarded Quartet Middle East envoy Tony Blair a $1 million prize for his efforts to make peace in the Middle East.