* ‘If Israel strikes Iran, U.S. will likely join’ The United States would find it difficult not to join an Israeli air strike in the event that Jerusalem decides to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities.

* Hamas refuses to disarm as part of truce Hamas’ discontent with an Egyptian-brokered deal with its rival, Fatah, rose to new heights Tuesday.

* Painful Mideast Truth: Force Trumps Diplomacy As the Obama administration tries to broker a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, there is a dark truth lurking: force has produced clearer results in this dispute than talk.

* Afghan election goes to run-off Afghanistan will hold a deciding round of its problem-plagued presidential election on 7 November.

* Arab League chief eyes Egyptian presidency The head of the Arab League indicated in an interview published Tuesday that he may consider running for Egypt’s presidency in elections scheduled for 2011.

* Pope Approves Plan to Bring Anglicans Into the Fold The Vatican has made it easier for Anglicans to join the Catholic Church, responding to the disillusionment of some Anglicans over the election of openly gay bishops and the blessing of same-sex unions.

* ‘Water reserves may be drained by 2010’ If this winter is as lacking in rainfall as the last one, then by next summer Israel will have to take drastic steps such as importing water.

* U.S. Seeks to Keep Watching Russia’s Weapons With a key arms control treaty set to expire soon, the Obama administration is searching for ways to keep inspectors in Russia.

* Encouraging Jewish Ties to Temple Mount A large-scale gathering will take place in central Jerusalem next week featuring rabbis and public figures calling on the Jewish public to visit the Temple Mount “in purity.”.

* Iran: We won’t stop uranium enrichment Teheran reiterated that it would never abandon its “legal and obvious” right to nuclear technology nor will it stop uranium enrichment.