Friday, May 07, 2010

05/07/10

* 'Talks doomed due to Arafat's legacy' Israeli-Palestinian negotiations are doomed to hit a brick wall because no Palestinian leader will accept anything less than what Yasser Arafat rejected at Camp David 10 years ago.

* Obama, Egypt strategizing for nuke-free Israel Officials and analysts said President Barack Obama has approved efforts of a joint resolution as a means of pressuring Israel to give up its purported nuclear arsenal.

* Israeli aerospace official: Iran cruise missile poses 'extremely serious' threat Israel has been closely monitoring Iran's long-range cruise missile program.

* Iran hosts dinner seeking to avert UN sanctions Iran's foreign minister invited the United States and other members of the UN Security Council to dinner Thursday night.

* Looming specter of conflict It has been another busy week in the ongoing war of words waged by Iran and its allies against Israel.

* Tories Gain but Fail to Take Parliament After one of the most passionately contested elections in decades, Britain faced the stalemate of a hung Parliament on Friday.

* Plunging markets set backdrop for euro area meeting In a sign that the Greek emergency is increasingly taking on a global dimension, finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of Seven leading industrial nations are to hold a teleconference on Friday.

* Turkey MPs back key constitutional changes Turkey's parliament has approved all but one of 27 controversial changes to the constitution, which critics say could undermine the secular courts.

* Europe tries to douse debt crisis European leaders sought Friday to convince fearful markets that the Greek debt crisis won't spread to other countries and derail the continent's wobbly shared currency and hesitant economic recovery.

* Iran belongs to world's "nuclear club," cleric says Ahmad Khatami, a conservative hardliner in the clerical establishment, also warned the major powers that Iran could "endanger your entire world" in any future confrontation.