Russian President Vladimir Putin faced down Israeli criticism Thursday, saying that Russia's planned sale of anti-aircraft missiles to Syria and supply of nuclear components to Iran does not threaten Israel's security.

Despite pressure from the government and oil importers in Tokyo for priority in Russian crude deliveries to Japan, Russia's new eastern oil pipeline will first deliver crude oil to China, and later to Japan, a senior executive of Transneft, the state pipeline agency, told Asia Times Online.But the oil to China will be transported by rail, not by a special China spur pipeline -John Helmer/Asia Times

The Bush administration may be openly contemplating giving economic incentives to Iran's ruling clergy in exchange for denuclearization, yet the US Congress is singing a different tune, that of regime change, as seen by a house committee's recent approval of a bill that for all practical purposes shuns any chance of US-Iran dialogue -Kaveh L Afrasiabi/Asia Times

The US Department of Homeland Security announced in April the publication of the Interim National Preparedness Goal or The Goal.The Goal will guide federal departments and agencies, state, territorial, local and tribal officials, the private sector, non-government organizations and the public in determining how to most effectively and efficiently strengthen preparedness for terrorist attacks, major disasters, and other emergencies -Jim Kouri, CPP/Michigan News

Reps. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.) and John Sweeney (R-N.Y.) have been meeting with 30 House Republicans over the past few weeks to coordinate a more aggressive strategy to defend Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), according to a Republican source familiar with the meetings.The lawmakers will say that Democrats are just as guilty as Republicans are of oversights in their record keeping and of taking trips paid for by private groups -The Hill

The UN atomic agency on Wednesday postponed a vote on whether to give current chief Mohamed ElBaradei a new term, with only Washington opposing his reappointment due to differences over Iran and Iraq, diplomats said.The United States officially opposes El Baradei, 62, serving more than two terms -Khaleej Times UA

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has told Colombia that Washington will go on supporting its fight against drug traffickers and left-wing insurgency.Ms Rice praised the Colombian authorities for winning back large areas of land from left-wing rebels -BBC

President Vicente Fox fired his attorney general on Wednesday to try to end a crisis over obscure legal charges that threaten to knock Mexico's most popular politician out of 2006 presidential elections.The move was a major victory for Mexico City's leftist mayor, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who holds a clear lead in polls for the elections but would be blocked from running if he is found guilty in the case

In a rare Monday night session this week, the Ways and Means Committee of the United States House of Representative voted 22-1 against a resolution which would require the President to produce documentation supporting his oft-repeated claim that there is no Social Security Trust.

Speaking at the National Small Business Conference in Washington, D.C., President Bush on Wednesday laid out an energy agenda that partly focused on the importance of technology in finding alternatives to the United States' "growing dependence on foreign sources."—FOX News

The last time a leader from Moscow made a state visit to Egypt - 40 years ago - he changed the course of the Nile with the press of a button. But those were the heady days of Egyptian-Soviet ties, when Egypt was buying weapons and getting help for building the Aswan High Dam.—Washington Post