Friday, March 05, 2010
* Iraqi Shiites Turn Prayer Meetings Into Election Rallies On the last official day of campaigning before Sunday's parliamentary election in Iraq, the supporters of Shiite religious parties came out in force.
* Biden to open indirect talks Days before a visit by US Vice President Joe Biden, Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer expressed optimism about the situation in the Middle East.
* 'Soon 2-states won’t be possible' In the near future, a two-state solution may no longer be viable.
* Polling stations bombed as Iraq election begins At least 14 people have been killed in Baghdad on the first day of voting in Iraq's parliamentary elections.
* Officials bypass Netanyahu to plan Peres-Abbas meeting Talks have recently been underway to arrange a summit meeting in Rome this April between President Shimon Peres and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
* Aharonovitch: Hamas ignited Temple Mount riots Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch arrived at the Temple Mount on Friday afternoon and accused Hamas and the Islamic Movement's northern branch of igniting riots in Jerusalem's Old City.
* Jews with guns - not only in the Israel Defense Forces In the year after the election of Barack Obama as president, more than 14 million weapons were sold in the United States compared with 12.7 million the year before.
* U.S. vows to assign blame if Israel-PA talks fail The United States government has committed to playing a role in indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
* US vote on Armenian genocide angers Turkey Ankara on Thursday (4 march) recalled its ambassador from Washington in protest over a resolution passed by US lawmakers recognising the Armenian genocide in 1915.
* China rhetoric raises threat concerns Recent statements by Chinese military officials are raising concerns among U.S. analysts that the communist government in Beijing is shifting its oft-stated "peaceful rise" policy toward an aggressive, anti-U.S. posture.
