Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Monday he intended to free 250 Palestinian prisoners in a goodwill gesture to help President Mahmoud Abbas.

On Wednesday June 20th, 2007 the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution demanding from the United Nations to charge the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with violating the 1948 Convention on Genocide, as he has called for destruction of Israel.

Japan’s private sector banks have restricted loans to Iran and rejected a request to pay for oil imports in currencies other than dollars, the Financial Times quoted banking and official sources as saying.