* PM, Peretz agree to evacuate outposts For the first time since taking office last year, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has indicated in closed-door meetings that he was prepared to begin evacuating a number of illegal outposts in the West Bank.
* Vatican delegate to shun Holocaust remembrance service Vatican ambassador to Israel Monsignor Antonio Franco has refused to participate in annual Holocaust Day memorial services at the Yad Vashem Museum in Jerusalem.
* Possible Hamas split worries Israel As negotiations over the release of Cpl. Gilad Schalit appeared to enter their final lap this week, grave concern was expressed within the Israeli defense establishment on Wednesday over the growing rift within Hamas.
* IDF Chief: 'The Army Must Be Worthy of the People's Trust The IDF Chief of General Staff, Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, said on Wednesday evening that the army is implementing lessons learned during the 2006 war in Lebanon.
* Jesus tomb film scholars backtrack Several prominent scholars who were interviewed in a bitterly contested documentary that suggests that Jesus and his family members were buried in a nondescript ancient Jerusalem burial cave have now revised their conclusions.
* China PM seeks war reconciliation Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has used a landmark address to the Japanese parliament, the Diet, to urge Japan to face up to its World War II actions.
* IAF jets forced to buzz US airliner The Israeli Air Force came very close Wednesday afternoon to intercepting and destroying a civilian airliner that had failed to make contact with Air Traffic Control.
* About Creation, Pope Melds Faith With Science Science cannot fully explain the mystery of creation, Pope Benedict XVI said in comments about evolution.
* Senate passes stem-cell funding bill The Senate approved a measure that would roll back President Bush's 2001 limits on embryonic stem-cell research.
* Why I went up to the Temple Mount Jewish historical memory is focused on several fundamental experiences, among them: hurban - the destructions of the First and Second Temples, and korban - ritual temple sacrifice, both of which are grounded in the Land of Israel.