Schnelle Runde

Hezbollah slams U.S. call for 'partnership' with Lebanon army: Hezbollah on Friday denounced a senior Pentagon official's call for a U.S. strategic partnership with Lebanon's army, saying American attempts to boost military ties were a ploy for domination and could turn the country into another Iraq. Washington has dramatically increased military aid to Lebanon's pro-Western government over the past year. On Thursday, Eric Edelman, undersecretary of defense for policy, said the U.S. wants to make military ties even closer, with a strategic partnership to strengthen the country's forces.

Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert heads to Europe next week to meet the new leaders of France and Britain for the first time and press his campaign against arch foe Iran's nuclear drive. ... When President Bush this week raised the specter of World War III if Iran manages to build nuclear weapons, he not only roiled the diplomatic world, he also underscored how much Iran has come to shadow the political dialogue both here in Washington and on the presidential campaign trail. While Iraq has faded from the Beltway debate for now, Iran has emerged as the top foreign policy topic of the moment. Aluf Benn: "From Israel ... everything ... looks different" [Heute bekam ich eine Ansichtskarte aus Jerusalem, die mich nachdenklich gemacht hat. Da ist immer noch eine 1,50NIS-Briefmarke drauf! Von hier nach dort würde ich wahrscheinlich umgerechnet 4NIS bezahlen. Also... da stimmt doch was nicht!]

Krauthammer on Armenia. Tom Segev on Armenia. Tony Blair, the "Part time" Mideast envoy for the Quartet, got early backing from the British and French leaders at the end of an EU summit on Friday to become the European Union's first-ever full-time president, a role meant to boost the EU's profile on the world stage. [Möglich ab 2009.] French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Friday he would tell Prime Minister Ehud Olmert next week that "now is the time" to make peace with the Palestinians. Intern: The Jewish people desperately needs to rediscover its traditional pro-conversionary attitudes.

Jemand hat hier gestern nach einem Photo von Khouloud Daibes "gefragt". Bitte schön. Die in der Mitte ist natürlich die Polnische First Lady.