Thursday, March 18, 2010

03/18/10

* EU foreign chief Baroness Ashton arrives in Gaza Strip Baroness Ashton's trip comes amid a new push by the EU and US to revive stalled Middle East peace talks.

* 'Arab-Israeli conflict hurts US' US Gen. David Petraeus charged Tuesday that the Arab-Israeli conflict hurts America’s ability to advance its interests in the Middle East.

* Tehran aiding al Qaeda links, Petraeus says Iran is assisting al Qaeda by facilitating links between senior terrorist leaders and affiliate groups, the commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East told Congress on Tuesday.

* US President Barack Obama denies crisis with Israel US President Barack Obama has denied there is a crisis in Washington's ties with Israel over its settlement plans, as a war of words continues.

* Yesha Council to Clinton: Jerusalem is Ours In a letter to US. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Jewish leaders in Judea and Samaria explain the unshakeable historic and religious bonds between the Jewish People and Jerusalem.

* Merkel says errant states should be kicked out of eurozone German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said the eurozone must be able to expel members that repeatedly break the club's fiscal rules in the future.

* Iraq PM back in lead in vote count A coalition headed by Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, has taken a slim lead over the bloc led by his main challenger, Iyad Allawi.

* Clinton in Russia to Push Arms Talks Toward Deal With the United States and Russia still haggling over the fine print of a long-delayed arms control pact, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived in Moscow on Thursday to meet Russian leaders.

* US envoy urges China to help on Iran Beijing needs to take seriously American concerns about the value of the Chinese currency, but bilateral disputes should not impede cooperation on global issues such as climate change and Iran's nuclear program.

* US Lawmakers Stand Up Against Obama for Israel U.S. Congressional lawmakers have flooded the White House and the media with letters and news releases complaining about the Obama administration’s unprecedented scolding of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.