Saturday, May 01, 2010

05/01/10

* Iran: We'll cut off Israel's legs During a visit to Damascus, Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi said: “We will stand alongside Syria against any [Israeli] threat ... If those who have violated Palestinian land want to try anything we will cut off their feet," he said.

* Israeli-Palestinian talks to start next week - Clinton Israeli-Palestinian proximity talks are set to start next week.

* US, Egypt negotiate Mideast nuclear-free zone US officials are in talks with Egypt over a plan to make the Middle East a nuclear-free zone, part of an effort to block the Iranian nuclear program.

* Rare Russian opposition rally says Putin is Stalin "Putin is Stalin! Putin is Brezhnev! Russia without Putin," chanted the crowd, including former chess master Garry Kasparov, one of the Kremlin's harshest critics who co-heads the democratic, pro-western Solidarity movement.

* Iran rivalry behind Cairo's Hizbullah tension Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah reacted angrily yesterday to an Egyptian court verdict which sentenced members of a terror cell organized by the movement in Egypt to prison terms.

* ECB President Favors Global Governance The President of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, told Forbes that global governance is extremely necessary if we want to prevent another financial crisis.

* Eurozone to hold emergency Greek talks Eurozone finance ministers were set to hold emergency discussions this weekend to settle the remaining details of a multibillion-euro rescue package for Greece.

* Israel Nixes Weapons Sales to Turkey Israel has begun turning down Turkey's requests to buy certain advanced weapons, according to the military news and analysis sites.

* Netanyahu meeting Mubarak as cover for war An Arab editorial condemned Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Saturday for inviting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Sharm el-Sheikh Monday.

* EU-China talks over how, not if, to sanction Iran European talks with Chinese leaders over Iran have moved to the issue of how to target sanctions and away from whether sanctions should be applied at all.