US hopes Israeli-Palestinian talks will resume soon

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday she hoped Israeli-Palestinian peace talks will resume soon, taking a more upbeat tone about efforts to end the conflict than is typical for US officials.

"We hope that that will commence shortly," Clinton told lawmakers. "We think it's absolutely essential that they begin to talk about the final status issues that divide them ... but we are well aware of the difficulties that confront us." (Reuters)