Tuesday, September 22, 2009

09/22/09

* Obama to host Middle East summit US President Barack Obama is to host a summit of Israeli and Palestinian leaders, but Washington admits it has no "grand expectations" from the talks.

* 'Arabs offer flyover rights for freeze' A number of North African and Persian Gulf states have promised to give Israeli airliners flyover rights in the airspace over their countries.

* Peres hopes Obama-led summit will yield return to peace talks President Shimon Peres on Tuesday dismissed the "low expectations" attributed to the upcoming tripartite summit between Israel, the Palestinians, and the U.S.

* Big week for Obama at UN In his first foray into the annual meet-and-greet fest known as the UN General Assembly this week, US President Barack Obama will seek to make his impact on the major issues facing the world.

* Carter: Settlements hindering peace Israel must stop building settlements in the West Bank if peace is ever to be achieved in the Middle East.

* Iranian Plane Crashes as Ahmadinejad Threatens Israel and US An Iranian plane crashed during a military show in Tehran while Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was delivering another threatening speech aimed at Israel and the United States.

* Peres: Netanyahu will repay Ahmadinejad President Shimon Peres told schoolchildren in the north that "the prime minister will be demonstratively absent from a meeting with one of the most evil and horrible people of modern history, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad".

* Swedish-Israeli relations continue to deteriorate Relations between Sweden, the EU presidency-in-office, and Israel have gone from bad to worse after Israel accused Sweden of breaking an EU ban on contact with Hamas.

* Czechs Set Hurdle for Europe Treaty With the Irish poised to vote next month on a landmark European Union treaty meant to improve the bloc's global standing, alarm is growing in Brussels.

* Why everyone is saying no to Obama Everybody is saying no to the American president these days. And it's not just that they're saying no, it's also the way they're saying no.