President Obama meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington today, and Thailand extends a state of (emergency) across much of the country. I’m David Byrd reporting from Washington. President Obama meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today in Washington. As Dan Robinson reports Mr. Netanyahu’s visit is in sharp (contrast) to the last time the Israeli leader was in the United States. The public face of Tuesday’s discussion will contrast sharply from last March when Mr. Obama was widely seen as having given Mr. Netanyahu a cold reception. This time television, cameras and media will be allowed into the Oval Office, and the two leaders will make brief statements on the question of the new rift in US-Israel relations. The subject of intense speculation during Mr. Netanyahu’s Washington visit last March, administration officials (insist) that there is none. Dan Robinson, VOA News, the White House. Thousands of mourners gathered in Beirut Tuesday for the funeral of former Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah. The 75-year-old Fadlallah died Sunday after a long illness. Mourners dressed in black, accompanied the coffin from the cleric’s house to a (mosque) for a burial. The Lebanese government has declared a day of national mourning for Fadlallah who was born in Iraq, but have a strong following in Lebanon. He was a fierce critic of Israel and the United States, which formally labeled him as a (terrorist). Iran’s top negotiator says the Tehran is willing to start nuclear talks with six world powers on September 1st, if the other the side meets several conditions. The offer came in a letter to EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton, who is representing the six powers. Saeed Jalili said the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China must clarify whether the goal of renewed talks is cooperation or hostility with Iran. Western nations suspected Iran is trying to build atomic weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is (peaceful). Hundreds of Sri Lankan demonstrators broke through a police barricade at the Untied Nations office in Colombo Tuesday. As Anjana Pasricha reports the group was protesting a UN (investigation) of alleged war crimes during Sri Lank’s civil war. The protestors led by Housing Minister Wimal Weerawansa, first broke through police barricades at the United Nations office in Colombo on Tuesday. Then held sit-in demonstrations to block the entrance and the exits from the building. They burnt an effigy of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. The minister demanded that the UN scrap a three-member family established last month to advise whether human rights (violations) took place during the civil war that ended last year with the defeat of Tamil. Anjana Pasricha for VOA News, New Delhi. Pakistani officials say security forces have killed at least 23 militants in fighting that took place during a search operation in the country’s northwest (region). The clash took place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Tuesday one day after a soldier was killed when militants launched a suicide bomb attack near a paramilitary base. Officials say the Tuesday’s gunbattle began when militants opened fire on troops searching the area. Authorities say security forces have opened fire on stone-throwing protestors in Indian-controlled Kashmir, killing three people in the latest violence to hit the disputed region. Tuesday’s deaths bring the number of civilians killed to 14 during weeks of (demonstrations) by anti-India Muslim separatists. Thailand has extended a state of emergency across much of the country because of fears that anti-government elements might instigate more unrest led protests that began in March. Government officials said the emergency (regulations) will continue for three months in 18 of Thailand’s 76 provinces and in Bangkok. Fighting between rebel Islamist groups in Somalia’s capital has killed at least eight people. Witnesses fighters from al-Shababa and Hizbul Islam clashed late Monday in a southern Mogadishu neighborhood. The groups are fighting Somalia’s fragile transitional government, and between them control of most Mogadishu and southern Somalia. And the World Cup, Uruguay and the Netherlands will face off in the first semi-final in Cape Town, South Africa. Uruguay is a two-time World Cup champion. The Dutch have one five straight (World Cup) matches, including a 2-1 victory over five-time tournament winner Brazil. On Wednesday, Spain clashes with Germany in Durban in the other semi-final. The final is Sunday in Johannesburg.