A ROUND UP FROM ESTHER...

Combat volunteers up in Israel after Gaza: report

AFP - The number of conscripts volunteering to serve in Israeli combat units has risen to a 10-year-high partly as a result of what the army sees as its success in Gaza, Yediot Aharonot said on Friday.

A total of 73 percent of conscripts called up in the second quarter wanted to join combat units, compared with 67.2 percent last year, the newspaper said.

The low was 66.3 percent in 1997.

Israel accuses Sweden of 'diplomatic coup'

Israel has accused Sweden of trying to change the EU’s stance on Jerusalem and refer to the city as the official capital of Israel and Palestine while at the helm of the rotating EU presidency.

According to an article in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Friday, Israel’s foreign ministry has instructed its EU envoys to block what they call the “Swedish initiative.”

The newspaper claims that it has seen official statements by senior Swedish official and other documents which refer to Jerusalem as the capital of the two states.

”Israeli missions in Europe were instructed to investigate, discreetly, the position of the EU member states regarding the Swedish initiative,” the article states.

”And whether this was an attempt at a diplomatic coup or an initiative that enjoys broad support.”

According to the Israeli government, this new position could have a serious effect on EU contributions to the peace process.

Millions of Muslims converting to Christianity

From Dutch: According to an article in Katholiek Nieuwsblad Muslim leaders are very concerned about a wave of conversions. In Sudan, 800,000 Muslims supposedly converted.

FROM ESTHER AT Islam In Europe - The premier source for news about the Muslim community in Europe.

UPDATE: WE SCOOPED GATEWAY BY HALF A DAY ON THE CONVERSION STORY. (SAME LINK)