German sailors must be empowered to board ships against the will of their crew in order to stop arms smuggling to Lebanon, a senior leader said in remarks released Saturday.
Germany is offering to patrol Lebanon's coast rather than send ground troops as part of a UN peacekeeping force after the conflict between Israel and Lebanon-based Hizbullah.
"To prevent arms smuggling from the sea, we need a robust mandate that allows the navy to stop and check suspicious ships against their will," vice-chancellor Franz Muentefering was quoted as saying in the Tagesspiegel newspaper.
Muentefering said German forces faced a "serious" role in the UN mission, which including an arms embargo against Hizbullah and other militias.
"We cannot expect that arms suppliers will see it as a friendly act if German and other troops guard the coast and prevent their weapons deliveries," he said in an interview released before its publication Sunday.
However, he said he was confident that parliament as well as the Cabinet would approve the mission - a requirement under German law.
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The recycling of surplus petrodollars through the global financial system is set to intensify, with Saudi Arabia and the five other members of the Gulf Co-operation Council exporting at least $US450 billion ($580 million) of capital over the course of this year and next, the Institute of International Finance predicted.
The capital exports are the mirror image of the oil-rich region's massive current account surplus.
The IIF, a lobby group for global financial institutions, forecasts that this surplus will jump 37 per cent this year to $US227 billion, and decrease only fractionally in 2007.
If these estimates are correct, the six GCC countries - Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates - will together accumulate foreign assets almost as rapidly as China is expected to add to its foreign exchange reserves over the two-year period. This would put them at the centre of the global debate on economic imbalances.
The IIF warns that poor capital account data makes it impossible to track capital flows from the region with any precision. But it says "the bulk of the region's surplus is used to finance portfolio investment. We suspect that the bulk of the surpluses are finding their ...   more »

By Ynetnews  August 25, 2006  
A poll commissioned by Dahaf published on Friday in the Yedioth Ahronot daily shows that 63 percent of Israelis feel that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert failed in managing the war in Lebanon and should resign. Only 29 percent believe the prime minister is fit to continue leading the country.
About 74 percent of those polled said Defense Minister Amir Peretz mishandled the war and should resign his post.
Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Dan Halutz faired only slightly better, with 54 percent saying he should resign over the army's failures, while 38 percent said he should keep his post.
Some 25 percent of respondents said former defense minister Shaul Mofaz is most fit to lead the defense establishment. Labor MK and former Shin Bet chief Ami Ayalon was the second most popular figure for the post with 20 percent of support, followed by former IDF chief Moshe Ya'alon with 10 percent and Israel Our Home leader Avigdor Lieberman with 8 percent. Only 3 percent of respondents said Peretz is suitable for the job.
In a Shvakim Panorama poll broadcast on Israel Radio on Thursday, 29% of Israelis polled said their preferred ...   more »

By Associated Press  August 26, 2006  
Iran took another leap toward a nuclear bomb by launching heavy water production and Israel must draw the conclusions and "prepare itself militarily," a senior Israeli lawmaker said Saturday.
Israel's government declined comment on Saturday's inauguration of the heavy water plant, which went into operation despite international demands that Iran roll back its nuclear program.
Iran's president said in a speech during the opening ceremony Saturday that Iran will never abandon its nuclear program and reiterated that nuclear weapons production is not the goal. He said the program poses no threat to any other country, including Israel which, in his words, "is a definite enemy."
Israeli legislator Ephraim Sneh of the Labor Party, a partner in the ruling coalition, warned in a statement that Iran's heavy water production marks "another leap in Iran's advance toward a nuclear bomb."
Sneh, a former deputy defense minister, said Iran's progress shows that international efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons are insufficient. "Israel has to draw the conclusions and to prepare itself militarily," said Sneh.
When asked to elaborate in a subsequent telephone interview, Sneh would only say that Israel should improve its defensive capacities ...   more »

Iranian president sends letter to Syrian counterpart concerning developments in Lebanon, region. Iranian envoy says both countries wish to bring stability to region
Syrian President Bashar Assad received a letter Saturday from his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad concerning the latest developments in Lebanon and the region, Syria's official news agency reported.   
Iran achieves significant nuclear goal / Dana Zimmerman
Iran's deputy foreign minister, Mahammad Rida Baqeri, was visiting Syria and delivered the letter, SANA reported. Its contents were not disclosed.  
Baqeri also held talks with Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa about the "repercussions of the latest Israeli aggression in Lebanon," SANA said. "The (two politicians') views were identical over the importance of maintaining coordination and consultation between Syria and Iran to bring about stability in the region," it reported.  
A reporter for the Iranian news agency IRNA in Damascus reported that during the meeting between Assad and Baqeri, the Iranian official briefed the Syrian president on the latest developments in his country's nuclear program, and on Iran's response to the UN's "carrot and stick" proposal, which was delivered earlier in the week.   
The meeting was held at the Syrian presidential palace in the presence of the ...   more »

The High Holiday period actually begins in Elul, the Hebrew month preceding Rosh Hashana. Elul is an important period of introspection, of clarifying life's goals, and of coming closer to God. Because when the big day of Rosh Hashana comes, and each individual stands before the Almighty to ask for another year, we'll want to know what we're asking for!During Elul, many people perform a daily cheshbon - a spiritual accounting -- where we step back and look at ourselves critically and honestly, with the intention of improving. In order to arouse us to this task, it is the Ashkenazi custom to blow the shofar every morning after prayers during the month of Elul.Historically, this month has great significance, because it was on the first day of Elul that Moses -- following the sin of the Golden Calf -- ascended Mount Sinai to receive a new, second set of stone tablets. Forty days later -- on the seminal Yom Kippur -- Moses returned to the people with tablets in hand, signaling a repair of the breech between the Jewish people and God.High Holiday preparations intensify on the Saturday night before Rosh Hashana, when we recite "Slichot," a special series of ...   more »

If the Jews would have resources to alert the world to the dangers, the world at large would be saved from horrible consequencesYitzhak Shomron

Not a few questions loom large on the Mideast crisis. And there comes a moment when we have to start sacrificing one more holy cow: The idea that Israel doesn't want, need or will ever request external help without relying on its own people, soldiers and military ...   more »