Saturday, December 11, 2010

12/11/10

* Abbas Lays Groundwork for Unilateral Declaration of PA State Arab media is reporting that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has told his aides to ask the United Nations Security Council to recognize the PA as a new Arab country.

* Palestinians to decide on return to indirect talks Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is to decide on his next steps in coming days.

* Hillary Clinton 'frustrated' at Middle East deadlock US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has expressed frustration at the latest setback to Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

* PA: Clinton should have blamed Israel Palestinian officials said Saturday they'll decide in coming days whether to agree to a US proposal to return to indirect peace negotiations with Israel.

* Iranian defector witnessed VIP treatment for visiting N. Korean nuke technicians An Iranian defector said he learned first-hand of Iranian-North Korean cooperation in strategic weapons programs.

* U.S. says recognition of Palestinian state premature Brazil and Argentina's recognition of a Palestinian state is premature, U.S. Undersecretary of State William Burns said.

* 'Turkish officials say Barak preventing flotilla apology' A senior Turkish official on Saturday told Turkish paper Today's Zaman that domestic Israeli political considerations may be preventing a return to normal relations.

* Violence Flares Anew in Southern Afghanistan Violence has flared in southern Afghanistan, disrupting a long period of relative quiet.

* Holder reassures Muslims of DOJ's anti-bias focus Attorney General Eric Holder reiterated his resolve to prosecute hate crimes while standing behind the methods used in anti-terrorism.

* Database shows how bees see world in UV Researchers are being offered a glimpse of how bees may see flowers in all their ultra-violet (UV) glory.