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Latest shot in hummus war: Israel doubles record
:: By MATTI FRIEDMAN | Associated Press Writer :: JERUSALEM - Israel has taken the upper hand in a new kind of Mideast conflict, one in which bullets are replaced by chickpeas.
Using a satellite dish on loan from a nearby broadcast station, cooks in an Arab town near Jerusalem whipped up more than four metric tons of hummus, the chickpea paste that is a staple - and a near-religious obsession - for many in the Middle East.
The cooks doubled the previous record for the world's biggest serving of hummus, set in October by cooks in Lebanon. That record broke an earlier Israeli record and briefly put Lebanon ahead.
Hundreds of jubilant Israelis, a mix of Arabs and Jews, gathered around the giant dish in the town of Abu Ghosh near Jerusalem on Friday, many of them dancing as a singer performed an Arabic love song to the beige chickpea paste.
Just after midday, an adjudicator sent from London by Guinness World Records, Jack Brockbank, confirmed that the Israeli chefs now held the record. He put the exact amount of hummus in the giant dish at 9,017 pounds (4,090 kilograms).
Israelis make pilgrimage to rabbi's tomb in Egypt
CAIRO - Hundreds of Israelis came to Egypt on Sunday for an annual pilgrimage to the tomb of a 19th-century Jewish holy man in Egypt's Nile Delta, airport officials said.
Last year, Egypt denied the pilgrims entry because the anniversary fell during Israel's offensive on Gaza and there were concerns about their security and public protests.
In past years, Egypt limited the number of pilgrims visiting the tomb of Rabbi Yaakov Abuhatzeira near the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria. But Israeli newspapers reported that President Hosni Mubarak accepted a request from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visited Egypt last week to allow unlimited numbers.
"There are more coming in the next few days, hundreds, probably thousands," said one official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Teenager arrested in West Bank mosque blaze
JERUSALEM - Israeli police on Thursday briefly detained a teenager from a West Bank settlement in connection with the torching of a West Bank mosque earlier this month.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said a minor was questioned in the attack, believed to have been the work of Jewish extremists in the West Bank. Israeli law prohibits publication of information that might lead to identification of minors suspected of crimes.
Rosenfeld said the youth was released after several hours of questioning. He would not say if the teen was still a suspect. He said the investigation is still in progress.
The attackers burned prayer carpets and a book stand with Muslim holy texts. They also left Hebrew graffiti on the floor. The arson sparked outcries from both Muslims and Jews. Israel's chief rabbi visited the damaged mosque to denounce the burning.
Rosenfeld said undercover agents arrested the teen at a West Bank junction. He said it was the first arrest since the Dec. 11 blaze.
Israeli defense chief: Iran can build bomb by 2011
JERUSALEM - Iran will possess the technology to build a nuclear bomb by early 2010 and be able to produce one the following year, Israeli media quoted Israel's defense minister as saying Monday.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak delivered his assessment before the Israeli parliament's defense and foreign affairs committee. It broadly matches assessments from other nations including the U.S., which estimates that Tehran could produce a nuclear weapon between 2010 and 2015.
The Defense Ministry said it could not confirm the reports and a Barak spokesman wasn't immediately available for comment. The radio and newspaper Web site reports did not identify the source of their information, but participants in the committee meetings routinely brief reporters on the proceedings.
Earlier this month, Israel's military intelligence chief said Iran was close to an unspecified "technological breakthrough" that would enable it to build nuclear weapons. He did not elaborate on the breakthrough or say when exactly he expected Iran to have weapons-making capability.
Gunmen kill Israeli in West Bank shooting attack
:: By TIA GOLDENBERG || Associated Press Writer :: JERUSALEM - Gunmen killed an Israeli man in a shooting attack in the West Bank on Thursday as local attention was focused on Christmas celebrations in nearby Bethlehem.
The assailants have not been caught but security forces are treating the incident as an attack by Palestinian militants, Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.
Israel Radio identified the man as a 45-year-old resident of a nearby Israeli settlement.
Shooting attacks were once commonplace on routes around the West Bank but have now become rare. The Israeli military has kept many roads in the area off-limits to Palestinian drivers in restrictions imposed after similar attacks against Israelis.
The West Bank has been largely quiet in recent years, thanks both to action by Israel's military against armed Palestinian groups and the increasing control of security forces loyal to the moderate government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Polish police recover Auschwitz gate sign, damaged
:: By VANESSA GERA, Associated Press Writer :: WARSAW, Poland - Polish police have recovered the infamous Nazi sign stolen from the former Auschwitz death camp, cut into three pieces, and said Monday it appeared to have been taken by common criminals seeking profit.
Five men were arrested late Sunday after the damaged "Arbeit Macht Frei" ("Work Sets You Free") sign was found near one of their homes in a snowy forest outside Czernikowo, a village near the northern Polish city of Torun, across the country from the memorial site.
The brazen pre-dawn theft Friday of one of the Holocaust's most chilling symbols provoked outrage around the world. Polish leaders launched an intensive search for the 5-meter (16-foot) sign, which spanned the main gate of the camp in southern Poland where more than 1 million people, mostly Jews, were killed during World War II.
The men's arrest late Sunday came after more than 100 tips, said Andrzej Rokita, the chief police investigator in the case.
Police said it was too soon to say what the motive for the theft was but they are investigating whether the Nazi memorabilia market may have played a part. The suspects do not have known neo-Nazi or other far-right links, Rokita said.
Israeli police arrest 5 in West Bank mosque blaze
JERUSALEM – Israeli police said Monday they have arrested nine people at a radical Jewish settlement in connection with the torching last month of a West Bank mosque and other attacks on Palestinian property.
Five people arrested in the pre-dawn police raid were linked to the mosque blaze, while four others are suspected in connection with what police described as "severe damage" to other Palestinian property.
Police officials gave no further details and spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the case.
Authorities suspect the Dec. 11 mosque fire was set by Jewish extremists outraged by a government-ordered slowdown in West Bank settlement construction. Some extremists take out their anger on Palestinians in a practice known as "price tag."
The mosque attackers burned prayer carpets and a book stand with Muslim holy texts, and spray-painted Hebrew graffiti on the floor. A teen was briefly detained last month in connection with the blaze.
Israeli police officer beaten, injured by settlers
:: By MARK LAVIE, Associated Press Writer :: JERUSALEM - Angry settlers beat and seriously injured a female Israeli police officer Tuesday, police said, as she tried to enforce a government ban on new housing construction in Jewish West Bank settlements.
It was the most serious clash between settlers and authorities since the building restrictions were imposed last month. Settlers have vowed to defy the orders and have confronted government inspectors, scuffling with them.
Police spokesman Gil Elhadad said about 100 settlers, most of them teenagers, burned tires and blocked the entrance to the settlement of Tsofit, in the northern part of the West Bank near the line with Israel. He said some of them jumped the police officer and beat her, breaking several ribs. She was taken to a hospital for treatment of serious injuries, he said. He did not give her name or age.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared the 10-month moratorium on construction of new housing in the West Bank as a gesture to the Palestinians, hoping they would resume peace negotiations.
Jordan slams renovation work at Holy Sepulcher
:: Roni Sofer and AFP by ynet: Israel ambassador to Jordan was summoned to the Jordanian Foreign Ministry Thursday where he was handed a letter of protest over renovation work in Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
The Jordanians say the works violate agreements as well as the status quo in the Holy City.
In the letter, the Jordanian government expressed "deep concern and its total rejection of unilateral Israeli measures" at the church of the Holy Sepulcher, a senior Jordanian official told AFP.
The Jordanian government has also demanded "that this work be immediately stopped," the source added.
In response to the letter, Israel's ambassador told the Jordanians the renovation project followed a demand by Jerusalem's city hall, adding that the work was coordinated with all relevant parties, including church officials.
Sources in the Catholic Church in Jordan told AFP that work had been started by Israel on November 23 on one wall of the Holy Sepulcher.
Cooperation between officials from the German Government and S.D.E Company
Recently, Mr. Waldemar Wilhelm Hoppe, Deputy Managing Director of the "Invest in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern" agency, and Ms. Ursula Goldacker, the Senior Consultant of the agency, have arrived to Israel in order to conduct a business meeting with Mr. Shmuel Ovadia, the CEO of S.D.E Company and Ms. Inna Braverman, International marketing manager of the company.
"Invest in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern" is the economic development agency for the German State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. As a central contact point, the agency represents the company's interest towards administrations and state institutions, finds business partners and supports the process of entering into the German business market.
During the meeting, the officials from "Invest in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern" agency have told S.D.E Company that the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is very supportive of renewable energy technologies and companies. Today, 24% of electricity generated in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern comes from wind, bio, water and solar sources. Now, the agency wishes to add S.D.E's Sea-Wave power plants to the variety of renewable energies in the area.