1. TEHRAN STAYS QUIET ON NUCLEAR FEARS…There has been no comment from Tehran on the latest developments in Iran’s disagreement with leading European nations over its nuclear program. The foreign ministers of Germany, France and the United Kingdom met in Berlin on Thursday to discuss Iran’s latest defiance of the international community’s demand that it cease the program. While there are some differences of opinion between Berlin, Paris and London, the three have called for an emergency meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency to discuss the matter. IAEA chief Muhammad Al-Barade’i has admitted to journalists that he is beginning to lose his patience with Tehran.
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2. END OF ROAD LOOMS FOR ISRAEL’S THIRD PARTY…It was a torrid night for the founders of Israel’s Shinui, the party that took everyone by surprise at the last general election by becoming the country’s third-largest force in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. After the party’s creator Avraham Poraz lost his battle for the second slot in party primaries on Thursday, Shinui’s leader Yosef Lapid was said to be mulling his resignation. Together with four other lawmakers, the two are reportedly considering creating a new political party, which would seek the secularist center ground in Israeli politics.
3. OLMERT TO MAKE KEY APPOINTMENTS…Israel’s Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is expected to appoint several government ministers next week. The four ministers from the Likud party are slated to resign on Sunday during the weekly cabinet meeting. That would leave vacant at least 10 cabinet positions. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon held up to eight portfolios at a time in recent months, following a series of resignations. The most senior appointment is tipped to be Tzipi Livni to foreign minister. Livni quit the Likud with Sharon and Olmert to form Qadima. It is unclear what role Shimon Peres will play, but it has been announced he will be traveling to Washington in the next few days to hold talks with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.