* Is Mossad Systematically Killing Iranian Nuclear Scientists? Iran's state-run Fars News Agency (FNA) is accusing Israel's international intelligence agency of killing the country's nuclear scientists.
* China stealth plane still 'years away', says Pentagon The US is downplaying pictures which appear to show a working prototype of a Chinese stealth aircraft, invisible to radar.
* US to send 1,400 additional marines to Afghanistan The US is to send an additional 1,400 marines to southern Afghanistan in an effort to counter a Taliban offensive, a Pentagon official has said.
* Ashton meets Abbas, Fayyad; urges return to talks EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad separately.
* Egypt on alert as Copts gather for Christmas Eve Coptic Christians are preparing to celebrate Christmas Eve amid tight security after a bomb attack on a church in Egypt in which 23 died.
* Arab states work to finalize anti-settlement draft A group of Arab states launched negotiations on a resolution against Israeli building in West Bank settlements.
* Mindsets and geography: China changes the map half a world away In 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, after agreeing to dismember Czechoslovakia to appease Hitler, described it as "a quarrel in a far-away country between people of whom we know nothing."
* Netanyahu to tell Mubarak: We won't let Hamas and Hezbollah disturb the quiet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Sharm el-Sheikh on Thursday as part of an effort to revive stalled Middle East peace talks.
* Hamas, Winner of PA Elections, Teaches: Destroy Israel A Hamas member of the PA parliament visited and emphasized his organization’s commitment to liberate all of Palestine.
* Ivory Coast: Deadly ethnic clashes in Duekoue At least 14 people have died in ethnic clashes in Ivory Coast between groups that support opposing sides in the crisis over the disputed election.