* ‘Iran ups uranium enrichment capacity’ Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his country has boosted its capacity to enrich uranium.

* Alert level raised on North Korea South Korean and US troops have gone on higher alert after North Korea said it was scrapping the treaty that halted the Korean War more than 50 years ago.

* Settler rabbis: Don’t evacuate outposts Religious leaders headed by the head of the Judea and Samaria Rabbis’ Committee, Rabbi Dov Lior, gathered Wednesday at an unauthorized outpost slated for removal.

* No exception on Israeli settlement: Clinton US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said there must be no exceptions to President Barack Obama’s demand that Israel stop its settlement activity.

* Is Abbas still relevant to the peace process? If ahead of the visit of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the analysts tried to assess the intensity of the confrontation with U.S. President Barack Obama.

* Israel rejects US call over settlement work Israel will continue to allow some construction in West Bank settlements despite US calls for a freeze on its work.

* Abbas to urge Obama: Push pan-Arab peace plan Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will be pushing United States President Barack Obama on Thursday to facilitate peace with Israel.

* EU sketches out conditions for upgrade with Israel The EU will at a meeting with Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman next month sketch out three conditions for upgrading relations.

* Fresh blasts hit Pakistani city At least ten people have been killed in two separate attacks in the Pakistani city of Peshawar.

* Strong quake jolts Honduras, at least one dead A powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake rocked Honduras on Thursday, killing at least one person whose home collapsed.