As the Jewish New Year 5771 approaches, Israel's population continues to grow, according to Central Bureau of Statistics data released on Monday. The population now stands at 7,645,000 people, continuing to grow at a steady rate of 1.8 percent per year for the seventh year in a row.

Jews number some 5,770,000, or 75.5 % of the population; Arabs total 20.3%, or 1,559,100 people. The remainder, 4.2%, are classified as "other," and are mostly immigrants from the former Soviet Union who are not registered by the Interior Ministry as Jews.

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For the second time in less than a week, six small earthquakes have been recorded in a single day in central Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma Geological Survey said the six earthquakes on Saturday ranged from preliminary magnitudes of 1.5 to 3.3.

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Hamas may be willing to accept a peace deal with Israel should the agreement resolve the core issues at hand, Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat told Army Radio on Sunday.

"It is now time for decisions, not for negotiations," he said, and referred to building moratorium saying that the next few days would be key in determining the direction of progress.

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An international organization that has fought pitched battles over parents' rights to educate their own children in Germany, Sweden and the United States, as well as lesser fights in a number of other countries, is taking on officialdom in Botswana after police there grilled homeschoolers, confiscated their teaching materials and ordered them to appear in court.

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It’s like building any force,’’ Pratt said. “You train them and equip them the best you can.’’

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged Palestinians to keep up their armed struggle against Israel a day after Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed to continue talks on a U.S.-backed peace deal.

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A strong earthquake of 7.4 magnitude hit New Zealand, just 4 miles (7 km) southeast of Christchurch, in the middle of the night local time, the U.S. Geological Survey said on Friday.

There were no immediate tsunami warnings. USGS earlier said the quake measured 7.3 magnitude.

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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called Israel "hypocrite racists" and a Western invention as Iranians celebrated International Jerusalem Day on Friday, the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, with rallies against the "Israeli occupation of Palestinian land by Israel" being held across the country, according to a report by Iranian news source PressTV.

Iranians held rallies in cities including Teheran, Isfahan, Shiraz and Mashhad.

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While Washington might be abuzz with the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks today after a nearly two-year hiatus, only 1 in 3 Palestinians support the negotiations according to a late August poll by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion.

While a majority oppose the armed uprising Hamas has been calling for, pervasive apathy and distrust here highlight the more intangible barriers that Israeli and Palestinian leaders alike must overcome – in addition to final status issues such as Jerusalem, borders, and refugees.

"Had this been the first round of talks, then we would have hoped for a good solution,'' says Reem Abu Latif, an architectural engineer. "However, this is the 20th time, and we know the result. Now we are expecting nothing. Nor do we care.''

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These are the five most central issues that Israel and the Palestinian Authority need to address in the latest round of peace talks, which began Sept. 2.

5.  Borders

4. Refugees

3. Jerusalem

2. Water

1. Security

Read more at CSM