10/9/14

* First Day of Sukkot Celebrated Millions of Jews began on Wednesday to celebrate the seven-day holiday of Sukkot in which they construct booths called sukkot (singular: sukkah) near their homes.

* UK Set to Recognize 'Palestine' on Monday? British lawmakers on Monday will take part in a non-binding vote to recognize "Palestine," after Sweden made a storm by likewise pledging its commitment to recognize a Palestinian state late last Friday on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.

* Temple Mount Melee Leaves 4 Police Wounded Arab Muslims set an ambush for Jewish and other non-Muslim visitors as they attempted to ascend Jerusalem's Temple Mount on Wednesday to mark the start of the biblical holiday of Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles.

* Kobane: Air strikes 'stall IS advance' on Syrian border town US-led forces have continued air strikes against Islamic State (IS) militants near the besieged Syrian Kurdish border town of Kobane.

* Iran still seeking nuclear arms, opposition group says Iranian dissidents said that Tehran is still researching nuclear arms at facilities it relocated to escape detection.

* PLO: Global public opinion backs recognizing 'Palestine' A senior Palestinian official said on Thursday that European moves toward recognizing an independent "Palestine" would bring them in line with global public opinion.

* US frustrated by Turkish inaction against Islamic State, but seeks support over time The United States is frustrated by Turkey's failure to stop the Islamic State onslaught on the Syrian town of Kobani but hopes to win its support against the group over time, a US official said on Wednesday.

* Hamas and Fatah Meet in Gaza: 'The Division is Over' The Palestinian Authority (PA) unity government held its first full cabinet meeting on Thursday in Gaza, and despite the recent massive tensions between "unity partners" Fatah and Hamas, both groups claimed the years of division are now over.

* Internet giants discuss jihad with EU ministers High ranking officials from Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Microsoft met with EU interior ministers and the European Commission at a private dinner in Luxembourg to discuss ways to counter online jihadist propaganda.

* CDC Chief: Intensity of Ebola Spread Unseen Since AIDS (AFP) The deadly spread of Ebola in West Africa is something unseen since the outbreak of AIDS, Thomas Frieden, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Thursday.