Wednesday, September 16, 2009

09/16/09

* 'We may have to attack Iran by Dec.' Israel will be compelled to attack Iran's nuclear facilities if Western powers do not impose serious sanctions against Teheran by the end of 2009, former deputy defense minister Ephraim Sneh said on Wednesday.

* Mitchell-PM meeting: Still no settlements deal Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and US special Mideast envoy George Mitchell failed to reach an agreement on the West Bank settlement issue after meeting in Jerusalem on Wednesday for the second time in two days.

* CBS: Israel's population numbers 7,465,500 Israel's population numbers 7,465,500 - some 5,634,300 Jews, 1,513,200 Arabs and 318,000 others - according to the annual pre-Rosh Hashana report released by the Central Bureau of Statistics Wednesday.

* Euro MPs give Barroso new mandate The powerful European Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso, has won a second term of office after a majority of Euro MPs voted for him.

* Crisis makes Europe richest reagion in the world, study says Europe has emerged as the richest region in the world, pushing North America, where wealth has declined by more than 20 percent due to the economic crisis, off the top spot, a study has shown.

* Syrian president to visit Turkey for Mideast talks A Syrian official says President Bashar Assad will visit Turkey on Wednesday for talks that will touch on the stalled peace process between Syria and Israel.

* Carter says Obama row is 'racist' Former US President Jimmy Carter says much of the vitriol against President Barack Obama's health reforms and spending plans is "based on racism".

* Israel's Future is Young: Jewish Birthrate Up, Muslim Rate Down The State of Israel faces a promising Jewish future, according to statistics released Wednesday by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBC).

* Pole attempts to breathe new life into EU legislature The new president of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, has given himself the task of making his institution more internet friendly and livening up debates in the notoriously dull EU legislature.