* US and Iran to hold second talks Iran and the US are to hold fresh talks on the subject of Iraq, only their second one-on-one meeting in decades.

* Turkish PM vows to pursue reform Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to continue reforms and efforts to join the European Union, following his party’s election victory.

* Olmert Reiterates Stance to Give Away Judea and Samaria Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert reiterated his belief that Israel “needs to withdraw” from the biblical Jewish provinces of Judea and Samaria.

* Reform, Progressive Jews try to make Tisha B’av more relevant to secular public Tisha B’Av, a Hebrew calendar date during which primarily religious and ultra-Orthodox Jews fast and mourn the destruction of the First and Second Temples, is not largely observed by Israel’s secular public.

* Iran and Syria Forge Military Alliance Against “Common Enemies” Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Syrian President Bashar Assad held a joint press conference in Damascus Thursday confirming the formation of a new regional military alliance.

* EU talks to thrash out new treaty The EU has launched three months of talks on the text of a new treaty to reform the 27-member bloc.

* Envoy Blair arrives in Mid-East Tony Blair has arrived in Jordan at the start of his first visit to the Middle East as special envoy to the region.

* Israel urges Blair to spurn Hamas Amid expectation that new Quartet envoy Tony Blair may want to widen his mandate and talk to Hamas, Israeli officials made clear Sunday that this is unacceptable.

* IDF begins clearing out Homesh settlers Police and IDF troops forcibly evicted hundreds of settlers and right-wing activists from the former settlement of Homesh on Monday, after the activists managed to make their way into the site Sunday night against army orders.

* Builder says Dubai high-rise is the world’s tallest Developers of a 1,680-foot skyscraper still under construction in oil-rich Dubai claimed Saturday that it has become the world’s tallest building, surpassing Taiwan’s Taipei 101 which has dominated the global skyline at 1,667 feet since 2004.