* Livni urges Obama not to talk to Iran 'at this time' US President-elect Barack Obama should not talk to Iran just yet, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said.

* Brussels seeks Russia talks amid missile threat The European Commission has put pressure on EU capitals to approve next week the resumption of talks on a new EU-Russia partnership treaty.

* Putin may return to Kremlin in '09 Russian President Dmitry Medvedev could resign from his post in 2009 to pave the way for Vladimir Putin to return to the Kremlin.

* Israeli Intelligence Warns of Settler Uprising Yuval Diskin, the head of Israel's domestic intelligence agency, the Shin Bet, warned the Israeli government during an emergency cabinet meeting on Sunday that a violent uprising by extremist right-wing Israeli settlers is possible.

* 'Peace pact unlikely by year's end' US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday all but conceded that an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal by a year-end deadline is no longer possible.

* Democracy Backfires on U.S. in Iraq "Be careful what you wish for, you may get it." U.S. officials involved in negotiating the Status of Forces Agreement, known as SOFA, with the Iraqi government might be forgiven if the old saying has been running through their heads a lot recently.

* Obama names Emanuel chief of staff President-elect Barack Obama barely had time to savor his victory before he began filling out his new administration.

* Obama and EU to reinvent global politics, pundit says The Obama administration will play a big role in "reinventing" the international system.

* Moscow invests $100m in Dead sea resort The city of Moscow will invest $100 million through a subsidiary to build a luxury resort hotel in Ein Bokek.