Joint U.S. and Jordanian archaeological expedition have discovered what they say is a 3,000-year-old Iron Age temple related to the country's Moabite kingdom mentioned in the Old Testament. The temple dating back to between 1200 BC and 539 BC, was uncovered in Khirbat 'Ataruz, near the town of Mabada southwest of the capital city of Amman. The three-storey temple consists of a multi-chambered sanctuary and open courtyard. It is said to be the largest and most complete in the region. The dig also discovered more than 300 artifacts, including a figurine of four-legged Moabite god Hadad. Alarabiya.net.

The first peace negotiations in 20 months hosted by Hillary Clinton are to begin in the US State Department. On Wednesday, President Barack Obama held separate one-on-one White House meetings with the leaders, urging them not to miss the chance of setting permanent peace.The beginning of talks caused fresh violence in the West Bank. On Wednesday, an Israeli man and woman were shot and injured when the car they came under fire from another vehicle east of Ramallah. One day earlier another four Israelis were killed in a West Bank shooting. Bbc.co.uk.

Two deadly incidents in Mogadishu, the Somali capital, have resulted in the deaths of at least 14 people. Eight people were killed and 14 others wounded in a roadside bomb blast on Tuesday. The driver got unconscious after the explosion but was not seriously injured. Nobody claimed responsibility. In the north of Mogadishu, six civilians were killed in a mortar shelling incident between African Union (AU) peacekeepers and al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab fighters near the main market. Residential blocks near the market are often destroyed when fire mortar shells leaving civilian casualties. Aljazeera.net.

U.S. President Barack Obama declares the end of America's combat mission in Iraq, seven years after an invasion. Today will address Americans in a nationally televised speech at 8 pm Washington D.C. time. Before that he will go to a military base in Texas to meet with just returned soldiers. The size of the U.S. force in Iraq has dropped below a symbolic quantity of 50,000 troops. Since Monday, their mission will be so-called "advise and support" the Iraqi army. Alarabiya.net.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said that Israel would be to blame for the collapse of a new round of U.S.-backed peace talks if it continues settlement expansion on occupied territory. The Palestinians have threatened to pull out of the direct peace talks with Israel, due to begin on Sept. 2 in Washington D.C., unless it extends a moratorium on West Bank settlement construction when it expires on Sept. 26. "Israel alone will bear the responsibility of threatening these negotiations with collapse and failure if it continues settlement expansion in all its forms in all the Palestinian lands occupied since 1967," Alarabiya.net quotes Abbas’ TV speech as saying.