Tuesday, December 14, 2010

12/14/10

* Despite fresh U.S. approach, Palestinians say no Mideast talks without settlement freeze U.S. envoy George Mitchell said Tuesday that Washington remained "determined to persevere" in its efforts to see an independent and viable Palestinian state living alongside a secure Israel.

* Voyager near Solar System's edge Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, has reached a new milestone in its quest to leave the Solar System.

* Berlin, Paris and Warsaw keen to beef up EU military muscle France, Germany and Poland have urged EU foreign relations chief Catherine Ashton to personally take charge of plans to boost military co-operation between EU countries and between EU and Nato structures.

* WikiLeaks: Egyptian military an institution in decline Relations between the Egyptian military and the United states have deteriorated in recent years.

* Haniyeh: Hamas will never recognize Israel "Hamas will never recognize Israel, despite pressures and efforts aimed at achieving this," Hamas Prime Minister Ismael Haniyeh said.

* Russia Decides to Search for Sodom and Gomorrah-in Jordan Russia and Jordan have signed an agreement to search the bottom of the Dead Sea for the remains of the Biblical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

* 'N. Korea operating 4-5 uranium sites' North Korea has been secretly enriching uranium that could be used to build nuclear weapons at three or four undisclosed locations.

* YouTube users can now flag videos suspected of promoting terrorism YouTube is to start allowing users to flag videos that they suspect of promoting terrorism.

* Who's stopping the peace process? The breakdown of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks has predictably resulted in blame laid almost exclusively on Israel.

* Netanyahu: Both Israel and the Palestinians need peace Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that his meeting with US Mideast envoy George Mitchell had been "very good."