Israeli and Palestinian leaders will tackle their toughest disputes in direct talks beginning early next month in Washington, U.S. officials announced Friday.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued the invitation to the two sides, asking Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Abbas to launch the talks in Washington on Sept. 2.

Clinton conceded that there would be difficulties ahead. “Without a doubt, we will hit more obstacles,” but she added that negotiators should be able to reach a comprehensive peace agreement within one year.

(READ full story from NPR News)

The last U.S. combat brigade rolled out of Iraq August 19 ending a seven-year military operation that toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein.

The focus of the U.S. mission now has shifted, and by the end of August the remaining 50,000 U.S. military personnel left in Iraq will train and support Iraqi security forces, senior U.S. defense officials say.

In June 2009, U.S. forces withdrew from Iraqi cities entirely and missions conducted after that date were at the specific request of the Iraqi government and were joint missions with Iraqi security forces, he added.

The remaining 50,000 U.S. military personnel will be withdrawn from the country by December 2011 under an agreement reached between the United States and Iraq earlier, another Pentagon spokesman, Bryan Whitman, said, according to news reports.

A day for the solar history books.

The country’s first community-owned solar installation began delivering clean, renewable electricity to the grid in El Jebel, Colorado. The 340-panel solar installation is unique because it is owned by an array of local residents rather than any single person, utility, developer or corporation. The El Jebel “solar garden” represents a budding trend, pioneered in Colorado, toward community solar power. The benefits are many, including lower costs and the distribution of clean electricity from the sun.

Colorado and several other states have legislation or incentives that help promote community solar power, i.e. feed-in tariffs, net metering or equal eligibility under tax incentive programs, but support at the federal level would be ideal to facilitate a nationwide movement. For this reason, Colorado Senator Mark Udall introduced the Community Solar Gardens Bill in the U.S. Congress, which would legally allow homeowners to collectively install solar arrays in their neighborhoods; overriding any state legislation that may bar solar garden development.

(READ the full story in CalFinder.com)

Last month, First Lady Michelle Obama told residents of Florida that she was bringing her family on a summer vacation to Maine. They suggested, ‘Why not vacation here on the white sand beaches of the Gulf coast where businesses are suffering with the BP oil spill having scared away tourists?’

Well, on Saturday, the First Family did just that, traveling to Panama City Beach, where, besides swimming in the clean water with his daughter, President Obama met with small business owners to discuss the recovery.

Following the roundtable discussion, the President spoke about his sustained commitment to the Gulf.

“Already, more than 26,000 square miles were reopened for fishing at the end of July, and another 5,000 were reopened earlier this week. We’ll be reopening more areas as tests show that the waters are safe.