* Iraq 'independent' as the US combat operation ends Iraq's prime minister has said the country is "independent" as the US formally ends combat operations.
* Netanyahu heads to Washington as settlement building casts shadow over peace talks Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boarded a plane for Washington on Tuesday morning to begin new negotiations with the Palestinians.
* PA Prime Minister's Diplomatic War Against Israel As negotiating teams from Israel and the Palestinian Authority prepare to head to Washington for the first direct talks in more than two years, PA officials are quietly working hard to sabotage the effort.
* Israel training troops for unconventional warfare Israel's military, preparing for regional war, has been enhancing its skills to fight during a nonconventional weapons attack.
* Putin hints will return to Kremlin in 2012 Russia's paramount leader, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, hinted on Monday he would return to the presidency in 2012 for six more years.
* Gaddafi wants EU cash to stop African migrants Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi says the EU should pay Libya at least 5bn euros (£4bn; $6.3bn) a year to stop illegal African immigration and avoid a "black Europe".
* Israeli academics boycott West Bank settlements In a letter, they said they supported the recent decision by a group of actors and others not to take part in cultural activity there.
* UK and France to share aircraft carriers Britain and France are preparing to reveal unprecedented plans to share the use of their aircraft carriers in a controversial step to maintain military power in an era of cost-cutting.
* Netanyahu's Office Joins World of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's Office (PMO) has joined the modern world of social media.
* Football hooligans to launch 'European Defence League' in Amsterdam The English Defence League (EDL), the anti-Muslim 'street army' composed largely of football hooligans that burst onto the front pages of British newspapers.