BBC News with Roy Larmour
The United States has condemned Israel's plan to allow another 1,600 homes for Jewish settlers to be built in occupied East Jerusalem. Israeli announcement came as the US Vice President Joe Biden was visiting Jerusalem. Here is our state department correspondent Kim Ghattas.
The US Vice President Joe Biden issued a statement from Jerusalem in which he condemned the Israeli government's decision to allow more housing units for Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem. He added it was precisely this kind of step that undermined the trust needed to make progress in the negotiations. It's very rare for the White House to actually condemn Israel for anything, but Israel's action must have been perceived as a snub in Washington. Just as Joe Biden was talking about a moment of opportunity for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, Israel was taking steps that would infuriate the Palestinians and possibly undermine that moment of opportunity.
Israel and Syria have both told a conference in Paris that they want to use nuclear power to generate electricity. Speaking to the BBC, the Israeli Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau said his country would be interested in regional cooperation on the issue as a way of promoting peace.
Police in the Irish Republic have arrested seven people over an alleged plot to kill a Swedish cartoonist who drew the Prophet Muhammad with the body of a dog. James Rodgers reports.