* 'FT sees Israel as main cause of ME problems' The Financial Times views Israel is the key cause of problems in the Middle East, according to a study published by a London-based media monitoring organization this week.

* 'Israel infiltrated Hamas leadership' The mysterious death of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai last month has prompted Hamas to launch an internal investigation.

* How to save the Obama presidency - bomb Iran President needs dramatic gesture to change perception of him as lightweight ideologue.

* Iran launches research rocket into space Iran announced Wednesday it has successfully launched a 10-foot-long research rocket carrying a mouse, two turtles and worms into space.

* US military ban on openly gay personnel 'should end' Openly gay people should be allowed to serve in the US military, the country's top commander has said.

* EU president to hold 'intimate' summit in old library The EU's new president, Herman Van Rompuy, has opted to hold his first EU summit in an old library in order to create an informal atmosphere.

* Hamas: EU must stop letting Israeli spies use its passports Palestinian militant group Hamas has demanded the European Union work to prevent Israeli security services from using EU passports to carry out "targeted assassination" attempts.

* US blames Lisbon Treaty for EU summit fiasco The US State Department has said that President Barack Obama's decision not to come to an EU summit in Madrid in May is partly due to confusion arising from the Lisbon Treaty.

* U.S., Russia Agree to Nuclear-Arms Accord U.S. and Russian arms-control negotiators have reached an "agreement in principle" on the first nuclear-arms-reduction treaty in nearly two decades.