* ‘Hamas helping Iran crush dissent’ Palestinian Hamas members are helping the Iranian authorities crush street protests in support of reformist presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi.

* Pakistan and EU in ‘terror’ talks Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari is meeting Nato and European Union leaders in Brussels for talks on boosting security co-operation and trade links.

* EU document scraps Quartet demands In what is perceived in Jerusalem as a mistaken effort to give Hamas room to maneuver, the EU’s 27 foreign ministers, in a statement issued Monday, did not call, as in the past, for Hamas to forswear terrorism.

* Barak: Mousavi is a fundamentalist too Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that both Iranian presidential candidates were fundamentalists.

* New protests over Iran elections Iranian presidential challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi has called for peaceful demonstrations in protest at the result of last week’s contested election.

* North Korea warns of retaliation North Korea has threatened a “thousand-fold” military retaliation against the US and its allies if it is provoked.

* China, Russia call for talks on Iran, North Korea The presidents of Russia and China on Wednesday called for a diplomatic push to resolve tensions over the nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea after wide-ranging talks in Moscow.

* ‘Twitter revolutionized Israeli diplomacy’ An Israeli envoy to the U.S. said on Tuesday that Twitter, the short messaging website, has revolutionized Israeli diplomacy and become a leading advocacy apparatus.

* Right-wing group plans 30 new outposts The Land of Israel Faithful group says it has a plan to construct 30 new outposts in the West Bank over the summer.

* Brazil finds new strain of H1N1 virus Brazilian scientists have identified a new strain of the H1N1 virus after examining samples from a patient in Sao Paulo.