Wednesday, October 20, 2010

10/20/10

* Qurei warns of possible 'armed resistance' if talks fail Ahmed Qurei, a senior PLO official and former Palestinian Authority prime minister, has said he does not rule out the possibility that the Palestinians will launch an "armed resistance" against Israel.

* US military accepting gay recruits The US military has started accepting gay recruits after a California judge last week struck down the "don't ask, don't tell" policy barring openly gay people from serving.

* Iraq PM takes foreign gamble to win over rivals A March parliamentary election yielded no outright winner, leaving Iraq in limbo and raising fears that insurgents would exploit the vacuum to stir sectarian tensions.

* Russia 'considering' proposal to join missile shield But speaking after talks with the French and German leaders, Mr Medvedev stressed the Nato bloc needed to make clear how Russia would be involved.

* Ban warns against European intolerance of Muslims UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned against a "dangerous trend" of intolerance toward Muslim immigrants in Europe.

* New Survey Indicates Large Oil Field Buried Under Negev Sand A new preliminary geological survey indicates 26 million barrels of recoverable oil—worth $2 billion—may be sitting underneath the sandy soil in the area of two kibbutzim in the Western Negev.

* Dead Sea Scrolls Go Public and Digital The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) is cooperating with Google Israel on a huge project: the creation of an online digital library that will finally display the Dead Sea scrolls.

* Digital World: Israel, the telecom 'continent' To the many feathers in Israel's hi-tech cap, you can add telecommunications: the business of connecting people on the phone.

* Carter in Syria: Israel must fully lift Gaza blockade Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, during a visit to Damascus on Tuesday, called for Israel to lift completely its blockade on the Gaza Strip.

* Intel: Iran banks use growing trade with Turkey to bypass sanctions Turkey and the United States are discussing the legality of Ankara's use of banks in neighboring Iran.