Thursday, December 17, 2009

12/17/09

* Photo Essay: New Temple Model for Chanukah About halfway down the steps from The Jewish Quarter to the Western Wall, enclosed in glass casing, stands a replica of one of the vessels of The Holy Temple that stood in Jerusalem until its destruction in 70 AD.

* Abbas: East Jerusalem the only capital of Palestinian state Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stressed Thursday that East Jerusalem will be the capital for the future Palestinian state.

* New climate deal may have to wait The Danish presidency of the climate summit in Copenhagen has sought to play down expectations of a comprehensive deal emerging from the meeting.

* Hamas: PLO vote on Abbas 'illegal' The PLO Central Council on Wednesday approved a resolution calling on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to stay in power until new elections are held in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

* New EU foreign policy chief lambastes 'Israeli occupation' Catherine Ashton on Tuesday leveled scathing criticism at the "Israeli occupation," in her first speech as the European Union's first high representative for foreign affairs and security policy.

* Moshe Arens: Barak's Ouster of Hesder Yeshiva 'Endangers Israel' Professor Moshe Arens, former Defense Minister and Ambassador to the US, told Arutz 7 Thursday that Defense Minister Ehud Barak "is endangering the country" by ousting the Har Bracha yeshiva from the Hesder Torah study-soldier program.

* Rabbis versus Christmas: Religious rivalry in Jerusalem benefits no one On the streets of Jerusalem, the religious war on Christmas is on. Last week, the "Lobby for Jewish Values" started handing out fliers condemning the holiday and inciting the public to boycott restaurants and hotels that sell or put up Christmas trees and other "foolish" Christian symbols.

* Nato fails to gain Russia aid in Afghanistan Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has failed to gain any commitment from Russia to help win the war against the Taliban insurgency.

* 'Coldest place' found on the Moon The Moon has the coldest place in the Solar System measured by a spacecraft.

* The next governor of Texas? Farouk Shami is a Palestinian-American immigrant who invented an ammonia-free line of hair care products which he parlayed into a fortune.