* Ayalon: Invite Hamas to Annapolis parley Minister-without-portfolio Ami Ayalon (Labor) is urging Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to end Israel’s boycott of Hamas and invite representatives of the group to a US-sponsored peace parley scheduled to take place in Annapolis, Maryland, in late autumn.

* ‘Syria was preparing for Israeli attack’ Syria was preparing for a large-scale Israeli attack some two weeks ago, the Al-Khaleej newspaper, published in the United Arab Emirates, reported Wednesday.

* China launches first Moon orbiter China has launched its first lunar orbiter, on a planned year-long exploration mission to the Moon.

* Bin Laden calls for jihad against Darfur peacekeepers Al-Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden called for a holy war against a proposed peacekeeping force in Sudan’s war torn region of Darfur in a message that appeared on jihadi Web sites on Tuesday.

* EU urges Turkey to think twice before Iraq action The EU’s Portuguese presidency Wednesday urged Turkey to think twice before launching military action in northern Iraq, following deadly attacks on Turkish troops from Kurdish rebels in the region.

* Turkey ‘hits PKK targets in Iraq’ Turkish forces have carried out a number of limited sorties inside northern Iraq to attack Kurdish fighters during recent days, according to military sources.

* Report: ‘World at peak oil output’ The world has reached the point of maximum oil output and production levels will halve by 2030 — a situation that will eventually lead to war and disaster, a report claims.

* Israel works on plan to cut power supplies to Gaza Israeli officials prepared a plan on Wednesday to cut power supplies to the Gaza Strip in response to a surge in Palestinian cross-border rocket attacks.

* Bill Calling For Jew-Free Hevron Met With One to Evict Arabs The far-left Meretz party submitted a bill Wednesday calling for removing all Jews from Hevron, the city of the Biblical Jewish patriarchs and matriarchs.

* Arsonists torch Jerusalem church There were no injuries reported in the midnight blaze at the Baptist Church on Narkis Street, but the interior of the downtown Jerusalem church was lightly to moderately damaged by the fire, Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said.