Associated Press, By Robert Burns (10/7/2009)
After a half-year of extending patient feelers to Iran, President Barack Obama has set a timeline - warning Tehran it must show willingness to negotiate an end to its nuclear program by September or face consequences.
If the West weighs new moves against Iran this fall, as Obama suggested Friday, it will likely mean new U.N. sanctions or unilateral U.S. penalties, rather than military strikes.
Obama told reporters in Italy...
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The calm in the western Negev continues. Hamas refrains from firing rockets into Israel and its senior figures emphasize for Western ears its policy of restraint. Hamas spokesman Ayman Taha told a New York Times correspondent that “the fighters needed a break and the people needed a break.” According to the New York Times report, the decision to suspend rocket fire was “partly the result of popular pressure,” and occurred because people were questioning the value of the rockets, which they regarded as relatively ineffective. 
