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US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called on Israel not to undermine peace talks with the Palestinians after a report found it had nearly doubled Jewish settlement construction.

On her seventh visit this year in a long-shot push for a peace deal by January, Rice said the two sides were “somewhat closer” in their talks despite deep public scepticism about the chances of ending the six-decade conflict.

Rice offered no further details, but said: “God willing, and with the goodwill of the parties and the tireless work of the parties, we have a good chance to succeed.”

At a joint news conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Read more »

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

US secretary of state says Palestinians and Israelis won’t reach a peace deal by the end of 2008, distancing herself from earlier positions.

On Monday, at the start of her 18th visit to the region in the past two years, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said a broad peace deal between the two sides was a long shot before US President George W. Bush leaves office.

“I think it’s extremely important just to keep making forward progress, rather than trying prematurely to come to some set of conclusions,” Rice said, Read more »

Mr Ahmadinejad’s policies have been blamed for high inflation Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has urged President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to prepare for a second term in office amid fierce criticism. The ayatollah praised the president for “standing up” to the West and predicted he would be returned to office for four more years at the 2009 election. Critics accuse Mr Ahmadinejad, a foreign policy hardliner, of failing to control inflation and unemployment. Such public backing from the ayatollah for a president is rare, analysts say. Mr Ahmadinejad, who won the 2005 presidential election, has caused controversy abroad by calling for the destruction of Israel and pressing ahead with uranium enrichment. ‘Shining medal’ “Do not think that this year is your final year,” Ayatollah Khamenei told the president at a cabinet meeting on Saturday, in remarks quoted by Iranian state media. “Work as if you will stay in charge for five years. In other words, imagine that in addition to this year, another four years will be under your management, and plan and act accordingly.” Without referring to foreign states by name, the supreme leader accused “some bullying

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Israel will be targeted by thousands of rockets if it attacks Iran, a senior official in the Tehran-backed group Hezbollah said on Sunday.

There has been speculation that either the United States or Israel could attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, although both have said force should be a last recourse in curbing a nuclear program which they suspect aims to build atomic weapons. Iran, which says its nuclear program is peaceful, is the main backer of Hezbollah — a Lebanese political and military group which fired thousands of missiles into Israel during a 34-day war in 2006. “The first shot fired from the Zionist entity towards Iran will be met by a response of 11,000 rockets in the direction of the Zionist entity. This is what military leaders in the Islamic republic have confirmed,” said Mohammed Raad, the head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc. His remarks were reported by the National News Agency. Hezbollah has not said what it would do in the event of a conflict between Iran and Israel. Analysts count Hezbollah, which shares Iran’s Shi’ite Islamist ideology, Read more »

The boats are carrying 40 activists, 200 hearing aids and 5,000 balloons Two boats carrying members of a US-based pro-Palestinian group have arrived in the Gaza Strip, despite an Israeli blockade of the territory. Israel earlier said they would be let in, saying they would not be given the chance to have a “provocation at sea”. The boats left the port of Larnaca in Cyprus on Friday morning. The Free Gaza protest group said about 40 activists from 14 countries were on board the boats to highlight the plight of Palestinians in Gaza. Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza in June 2007 when the militant group Hamas took control of the territory by force. Since then, Israel has allowed in little more than basic humanitarian aid as a means of isolating Hamas and persuading militant groups to stop firing rockets into Israel. The closure of Gaza’s borders by the Israeli and Egyptian authorities has also meant that very

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Syria was a close ally of the Soviet Union during the Cold War Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is holding talks with his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, in the Black Sea resort of Sochi in Russia. Before starting his visit, Mr Assad said the speeding up of military and technical co-operation would top the agenda of the talks. The two countries are preparing deals on anti-aircraft and anti-tank missile systems, reports say. Israel and the US have been critical of Russian arms sales to Syria. Syria was a close ally of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Support over Georgia Relations between Moscow and Damascus have been getting closer recently - this visit is Mr Assad’s third to Russia in three years. Mr Assad said on Thursday Russia’s military campaign in Georgia

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Cheese previously being brought into Gaza at the Kerem Shalom Crossing, which was closed after militants in the enclave fired a rocket into Israel

JERUSALEM, 20 August 2008 (IRIN) - Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak closed all crossing points to the Gaza Strip on 20 August, after militants in the enclave fired a rocket into Israel, which caused no damage or harm.

The attack comes as Israel was planning to reopen the Kerem Shalom Crossing to the Gaza Strip later this week, officials said.

Trials were under way on 18-19 August to see how the reopened crossing would function in practice, and on 19 August some 55 truckloads of goods entered southern Gaza via the crossing.

Kerem Shalom crossing was closed after a suicide bomb attack in April, for which the Islamist group ruling Gaza, Hamas, has claimed responsibility.

The current Gaza-Israel ceasefire, which dates from June 2008, has led to an increase Read more »