Al-Hayat al-Jadeeda (West Bank): Paris exceeds expectations and collects $7.4 billion for Authority – The Palestinian Authority has received pledges of $7.4 billion over the next three years, exceeding the Palestinian $6.5 billion request for implementing an ambitious development plan. Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad welcomed the pledges made at the international donors' conference in Paris, describing it as a "vote of confidence" for his government and the Palestinian Authority.

al-Quds al-Arabi (London): Olmert vows to bring to Israel the remains of spy executed in Syria – Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert promised to repatriate the remains of Israeli spy Eli Cohen, who was executed in Syria in the mid-1960s. He said in a special parliament session, on the 42nd anniversary of Cohen's execution in Damascus, that it is not an easy task to retrieve the spy's remains, but will work to achieve that objective.

As-Safir (Lebanon): Bushehr officially nuclear and enrichment will not stop – Tehran received Monday Russian enriched uranium, making Iran's Bushehr the first official nuclear plant in the Islamic republic. The move raised questions over the Russian-U.S. common approach after Washington surprisingly supported the step and saw it as a way to persuade Iran to halt uranium enrichment, but Tehran immediately rejected that.

Al-Qabas (Kuwait): Tenth session to elect Lebanese president on Saturday – Many prepared to launch fireworks as posters of army General Michel Suleiman were hung up at military check-points in anticipation of electing him president Monday. But that did not happen and parliament postponed the voting session for the ninth time until Saturday.

Al-Ahram (Egypt): Political crisis over raiding Kurdish bases … Ankara says it has Washington's approval for the strikes – Turkish air strikes on Kurdish rebel bases in northern Iraq have sparked a Turkish-Iraqi-American crisis, as the Turkish military command said it received Washington's approval, but the U.S. embassy in Baghdad denied that. The Iraqi government summoned the Turkish ambassador in Baghdad to protest the air strikes and warned against such continued attacks on Iraqi soil.