When the European Union and Russia held their most recent summit meeting in May, the Czech president, Vaclav Klaus, stunned European diplomats when he passed out copies of his book denouncing the fight against global warming — a central policy of the 27-nation bloc he was supposed to lead. In a few months he will be asked to sign the Lisbon Treaty, which aims to enhance the bloc’s role on the world stage by creating, among other things, a permanent European presidency. The treaty has finally approached ratification after years of setbacks, but Mr. Klaus, one of its fiercest critics, has warned that it will create a centralized “superstate.” - NY TIMES.com

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday announced that the United States has transferred $200 million to the Palestinian Authority in order to help ease a growing budget deficit. The transfer of aid directly to Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad's budget was an expression of confidence in his fiscal reforms, Clinton said. "The ability of the United States to provide support directly to the Palestinian Authority is an indication of the bipartisan support for the effort to secure the peace in the Middle East, as well as for the fundamental reforms that the Palestinian Authority has undertaken," she said.

Hannah Clark is no ordinary teenager and her normal life today could not have been possible without a unique, life-changing heart surgery. In 1994 when she was eight-months-old, Hannah was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy -- an inflammation of the heart muscle that impairs the heart's ability to work properly. Hannah's heart was failing and she needed a transplant. But instead of taking her own heart out, doctors added a new donated heart to her own when she was just two-years-old. The so-called "piggyback" operation allowed the donor heart to do the work while Hannah's heart rested. Then in February 2006, her doctors tried something that had never been done before: They took out the donor heart. Three years later, Hannah has no need for any drugs and has been given a clean bill of health. The operation was a success. - CNN.com

The US will not stand in Israel's way if Israel believes military action is needed to eliminate Iran's nuclear threat, Vice President Joe Biden said on Sunday, during an interview with ABC's 'This Week.' He said that Israel can determine for itself "what's in their interest and what they decide to do relative to Iran and anyone else." When questioned if Israel could make that decision "whether [the US] agrees or not," Biden answered in the affirmative, noting, "Any sovereign nation is entitled to do that." - JERUSALEM POST

SATIRE - Noting that the adrenaline in outrage can spark irrational, erratic and sometimes dangerous behavior, President Barack Obama today urged the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate it as a drug, like cigarettes. Mr. Obama, a smoker who said yesterday that he’s “95 percent cured” has also struggled with outrage, even showing glimpses of it when the subject of his smoking came up at his news conference. The president said today that like his smoking, he constantly struggles to control his outrage, but that he’s “99 percent cured.” - SCRAPPLE FACE.com

Local staff members at the British Embassy in Tehran have been arrested, the Foreign Office in London told CNN Sunday, confirming earlier reports from Iran's government-backed Press TV. Last week, Tehran expelled two British diplomats. London responded by kicking out two Iranian envoys. Iran then recalled its ambassador to Britain, saying it would reconsider its diplomatic ties with the United Kingdom. -CNN.com

“I want the judiciary to … punish leading rioters firmly and without showing any mercy to teach everyone a lesson,” Ahmad Khatami told worshippers at Tehran University. Khatami, a member of the Assembly of Experts, said the judiciary should charge the leading “rioters” as being “mohareb” or one who wages war against God. “They should be punished ruthlessly and savagely,” he said. Under Iran’s Islamic law, punishment for people convicted as mohareb is execution.

OPINION - We expected broken promises. But the gap between the soaring expectations that accompanied Barack Obama’s inauguration and his wretched performance is the broadest such chasm in recent historical memory. This guy makes Bill Clinton look like a paragon of integrity and follow-through. [Is this guy a raving loon or a wide-eyed prophet?] - STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER

U.S. President Barack Obama said the Palestinian Authority A must stop anti-Israel incitement. Obama said he told President Abbas "in a frank exchange that it was very important to continue to make progress in reducing the incitement and anti-Israel sentiments that are sometimes expressed in schools and mosques and in the public square because all those things are impediments to peace.” - ISRAEL NATIONAL NEWS.com