International mediators invited Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for talks in Cairo this month, stepping into the vacuum created by the Palestinians' last-minute cancellation of a meeting Thursday between the two men.

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the start of the 1967 Six-Day War -- a landmark conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbors that laid the foundations of the modern Middle East.

The situation in the Middle East remains volatile and tense, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned the Security Council today, with fresh clashes between Israelis and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the resumption of fighting at a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday she saw hopeful signs that progress was possible in forging peace in the Middle East.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice telephoned Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas Thursday to discuss the latest outburst of violence in Gaza. Rice, appealing for restraint by all sides, is expected to visit the region again within a matter of weeks.

Jordan's King Abdullah has urged Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to accept an Arab peace initiative for a Middle East settlement.

The foreign ministers of Jordan, Egypt and Israel have met in Cairo to discuss an Arab initiative for Middle East peace. It is the first meeting between Tel Aviv and the members of the Arab League "working group" tasked with negotiating with Israel. VOA Correspondent Challiss McDonough has more from Cairo.

In a bid to spur action on Middle East peace, a United Nations Committee is slated to open its African Meeting on the Question of Palestine today in Pretoria, with support from the South African Government.

A semi-official Iranian news agency reports that Iran is not ready to negotiate with the United States at a major international conference on Iraq, to be held this week in Egypt. The Iranian Students News Agency, ISNA quotes Iranian officials as saying conditions are not right for talks between the two nations.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that a year of economic sanctions against Palestinian government has turned people's lives into tragedy and hurt peace prospects in the Middle East and beyond.

China's role in the Middle East is active and fair and is promoting peace and dialogue, said China's special envoy to the Middle East, Sun Bigan. Sun made the remarks at a press briefing on Friday afternoon following the conclusion of a tour of the Middle East that lasted from April 9 to 18.

A senior Israeli official says Syria needs to take concrete actions to reduce tensions with Israel if peace talks are to resume. VOA's Jim Teeple reports from Jerusalem the Israeli comments follow those by U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, who said Wednesday in Damascus that Syria's president is ready to negotiate with Israel.