* Obama and Netanyahu urge direct Mid-East peace talks US President Barack Obama has urged the Israelis and Palestinians to resume direct peace talks before a settlement freeze expires in September.
* Secret document affirms U.S.-Israel nuclear partnership Israel's Army Radio reported on Wednesday that the United States has sent Israel a secret document committing to nuclear cooperation between the two countries.
* Iran to open nuke plant in Sept. The plant is situated in the southern Iranian city of Bushehr. Salehi said the plant passed one of its "most important and final tests, the hot water test, before its inauguration."
* Poll: 2/3 of Palestinians against rocket attacks Some 68% of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza do not want Hamas to resume its rocket attacks on Israel.
* Top U.A.E. diplomat endorses striking Iran nuclear sites The United Arab Emirates ambassador to the United States, Yousef Al-Otaiba, said Tuesday that the benefits of bombing Iran's nuclear sites eclipse the short-term costs such an attack would entail.
* EU-Chinese 'misunderstanding' on the rise, senior Beijing official warns China's deputy foreign minister has warned that the level of "misunderstanding" between Brussels and Beijing is on the rise.
* 'Peace process - not by imposition' Peres discusses Netanyahu and Obama's meeting with young leaders.
* 'Up, Up and Away' for North American Jews American and Canadian Jews resumed their annual one-way trek to Israel Wednesday morning.
* UN Contradicts Itself in Blaming Israel The IMRA news analysis agency reports that while Hizbullah brags about crippling the UNIFIL peacekeeping force in Lebanon.
* 'Direct talks before freeze ends' Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Wednesday called for direct negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.