03/26/12

* Israel to bar UN fact-finding team from entering Israel cut working relations with the United Nations Human Rights Council on Monday and will bar a U.N. team from entering Israel or the West Bank for a planned investigation of Jewish settlements, the Foreign Ministry said.

* Egypt's Islamists tighten their grip on power Egypt's newly empowered Islamists have tightened their grip, giving themselves a majority on a 100-member panel tasked with drafting a constitution that will define the shape of the government in the post-Hosni Mubarak era.

* Tunisian Islamists step up demand for Islamic state Thousands of Tunisian Islamists took to the streets on Sunday to step up their demands for the creation of an Islamic state in one of the most secular Arab nations.

* Israel ready for 'Global March to Jerusalem' Processions planned on Israel's borders to mark 36th anniversary of Land Day; Iran pressuring its Jews to take part.

* The Arab League summit arrives on a sea of troubles As bomb attacks in Iraq threaten to derail Baghdad's efforts to rebuild its status, Syria and the Arab spring are divisive issues

* Dozens of French Muslims training with Taliban Pakistani intelligence officials say 85 Frenchmen training with Taliban over past three years; officials investigating whether Toulouse shootings perpetrator was one of those trained.

* James Cameron back on surface after deepest ocean dive Hollywood director James Cameron has returned to the surface after plunging nearly 7 miles down to the deepest place in the ocean, the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific.

* Watch IDF Elite Combat Troops in Training An IDF video gives a rare glimpse into tough training by crack “Egoz” combat soldiers, lugging and firing the Israeli-made “Tabor” rifle.

* Ahmadinejad: US can not dictate world policy Iran blames world problems on West; Obama says compromise can be reached on peaceful atomic energy for Tehran.

* Turkey Closes Syrian Embassy; Death Toll at 10,000 The international noose is closing in on Assad. Turkey has shut down its Damascus embassy, and Russia warned Syria it faces civil war.