Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has commented planned direct talks between Israel and Palestinians for the first time. "Achieving a peace agreement between us and the Palestinian Authority is difficult, but possible," bbc.co.uk. quotes Mr Netanyahu’s speech at an Israeli cabinet meeting as saying. He added that Palestinians must recognize Israel as the state of the Jewish people and its security must be guaranteed. The direct talks are to begin in September.

The Egyptian minister of culture said on Saturday that a masterpiece by Vincent van Gogh valued at $50 million had been stolen from the Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Cairo. Farouk Hosni added that police had been searching for unknown suspects who lifted the "Vase and Flowers" (known as «Poppy flowers»). After that Hosni said two Italians had been arrested at Cairo airport, and the canvas found. But later he said he had been given "inaccurate" information, and the masterpiece was still missing. The same painting was previously lifted from the same museum in 1978, but recovered ten years later in Kuwait.The Mahmoud Khalil Museum also possesses artworks by Monet, Renoir and Degas. Bbc.co.uk

A year after the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the only person jailed over the 1988 Lockerbie attack, the UK has warned Libya against a repeat of the ceremonies which marked his return home. Britain's foreign minister called celebrations seen last year after al-Megrahi's release from a Scottish prison would be "deeply insensitive". Milad Maatoug, the head of Libya's National Youth Council, which organized celebrations last year, said its annual festival would "have nothing to do with al-Megrahi’s homecoming at all". Many relatives of the 270 people killed in the bombing of a Pan American airliner over the Scottish town of Lockerbie are still indignant at al-Megrahi's release.
Aljazeera.net.

Washington is preparing to release a statement giving details for direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. The US government and other international Quartet members have been working towards to persuading both sides to begin negotiations, after several months of indirect talks. According to the US special envoy George Mitchell the ultimate aim is peaceful co-existence of Israel and the Palestinians. The statement will include a timetable and other significant details that will serve as a basis for talks. Bbc.co.uk

Seven years and five months after the invasion, the last American combat brigade has left Iraq. Early Thursday troops of the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division moved towards the border between Iraq and Kuwait. "Yes, they did," Alarabiya.net quotes Lt. Col. Eric Bloom as saying. "They have a few more days to clean the equipment, prepare the equipment, get it ready for shipment, and then they'll fly out (back to the United States)," added Bloom.

Lebanon's parliament has passed a new law which allows Palestinian refugees to work legally on the territory of the country. Near 400,000 Palestinians live in Lebanon and their status is a sensitive problem. Many of then are still living in camps where conditions are terrible. But the law is unlikely to change their lives, as they will not be able to work in the public sector, nor buy property cause it might lead eventually to the permanent settlement of Palestinians in Lebanon. Bbc.co.uk.

Suicide attack in Baghdad has killed at least 51 people and left 100 wounded. A blast in the centre of the Iraqi capital hit an army recruitment centre. Some soldiers were among those injured. The attack comes as the US prepares to end combat operations in Iraq and ongoing political crisis. One of the two main contenders in Iraq's March election suspended talks on forming a coalition. Deadly attacks on Iraqi forces and traffic police in the capital and Anbar province, west of Baghdad, killed some 30 people in the first two weeks of August. Bbc.co.uk.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat on Monday blamed Israel for rejecting a "serious" peace process by refusing to freeze settlements in the occupied lands. His statement came after Israeli media reported that a forum of seven top Israeli ministers would reject an expected plan issued by the international Quartet (the USA, the UN, the EU and Russia) calling for the resumption of direct talks and a settlement freeze. "The announcement by the Israeli government rejecting the statement of the international Quartet before it is even issued shows that Israel is persisting in its rejection of a serious peace process," Alarabiya.net quotes Erekat as saying.

Six African illegal migrants trying to cross into Israel from Egypt have been shot. Egyptian security officials said four of Africans were killed in a row with the people smugglers taking them to Israel. The other two were killed by Egyptian border guards as they tried to cross the border in Sinai desert. All of migrants had come to Egypt from Eritrea. Human rights organisations have criticised Egypt for killing dozens of migrants from Sudan and the Horn of Africa at the border.
Bbc.co.uk

Lebanon is planning to set up a fund to help its army, days after American lawmakers blocked U.S. military aid of $100 million. Defense Minister Elias al-Murr said the fund hoped to collect donations from the millions of Lebanese living abroad as well as local residents. Murr was making the first contribution, of 1.0 billion Lebanese pounds ($670,000). Washington blocked military aid to Beirut over concerns that the army was cooperating closely with Hezbollah. The decision came after a deadly cross-border conflict between Lebanese and Israeli troops last week. Alarabiya.net.