10/28/14

* Mayor Barkat Tours Temple Mount Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat toured the Temple Mount Tuesday together with the commander of the Israel Police's David District, Brig.-Gen. Avi Biton, and City Director Amnon Merhav.

* Waqf condemns mayor's visit to Temple Mount The Islamic Waqf body, which administers the Temple Mount, on Tuesday condemned Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat's visit to the site earlier in the day, charging that it had not been coordinated.

* UN Security Council to Meet over Israeli Building in Jerusalem The UN Security Council will hold an "emergency meeting" on Wednesday to discuss Israeli plans to build more Jewish homes in Jerusalem, diplomats said.

* Islamic State crisis: Peshmerga fighters head to Turkey Iraqi Kurdish forces are travelling to Turkey, from where they plan to cross into Syria to battle Islamic State (IS) militants besieging the town of Kobane.

* Ukraine crisis: Russia to recognise rebel vote in Donetsk and Luhansk Russia says it will recognise the results of controversial separatist elections in eastern Ukraine, which the rebels plan to hold on 2 November.

* Israel's air force the best in the world, study finds Israel's military is the most powerful in the Middle East while its air force ranks second to none globally, according to a new study conducted by military experts for the publication Business Insider.

* US tells Arab allies against ISIS to 'reclaim youth' from extremism Retired US General John Allen, Washington's special envoy to the coalition against Islamic State, worked over sixty international partners in the cause at a conference in Kuwait City on Monday, discussing the progress of their fight against the group and the long haul expected ahead.

* Pope Blesses Work of Exorcists According to Pope Francis, priests devoted to the ministry of exorcism "manifest the Church's love and acceptance of those who suffer because of the devil's works."

* Knesset Speaker: 'American Critics Are Out of Touch' Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein (Likud) sharply criticized the American condemnation of building plans in the Israeli capital of Jerusalem.

* Netanyahu: "We must build in Jerusalem!" Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called for a special meeting of the Security Council demanding international intervention to investigate "Israeli attacks" in Jerusalem as well as "attacks" by "Jewish settlers" on the Al-Aqsa Mosque.