* Israel honors fallen soldiers, terror victims Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opens official State ceremony at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, “I know price you have paid, I am part of you.”

* Israel celebrates 63rd Independence Day Nation’s anniversary festivities kick off with traditional lighting of 12 beacons on Jerusalem’s Mt. Herzl.

* Operation Solomon marks 20th anniversary (Video) Ynet offers glance at unique covert operation which shuttled thousands of Ethiopian Jews to Israel

* Israel at 63: Population of 7,746,000 Central Bureau of Statistics data indicate 75% of population are Jewish, 178,000 babies born in past year, 24,500 immigrants made aliyah

* Bulldogs Under the Rug? Signs of a Putin-Medvedev Rift For three years, the power-sharing tandem of Putin and Medvedev purred along like a sports car, until now.

* Despite Reconciliation: Mashaal Calls for Armed Struggle Senior Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal urged the United States and the European Union on Sunday to support the reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah.

* Europe Day celebrated amid growing criticism of ECB It may be Europe Day, but a new haiku from the bloc’s president celebrating the occasion could not mask unease across the Union.

* Pakistan PM says bin Laden accusations absurd Pakistan’s Prime Minister rejected allegations that the killing of Osama bin Laden by US troops showed Pakistani incompetence or complicity in hiding the al Qaeda leader.

* Medvedev promises better arms for Russian military President Dmitry Medvedev marked the anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany with a promise to arm Russian troops with the latest weapons.

* Syrian army surrounds Damascus suburb of Muadhamiya Heavy gunfire has been heard in a western suburb of the Syrian capital, Damascus, after the army cordoned off the area, human rights activists say.