John Kerry to return to Middle East next week

Senior official in the White House said that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is returning to the Middle East next week in another bid to restart peace talks. The official added that Kerry, in his fifth visit to the Middle East since becoming America's top diplomat in February, will visit the West Bank, Jordan and Israel and meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in an attempt to convince both parties back into direct negotiations. "I am confident that both sides are weighing the choices that they have in front of them very, very seriously," Kerry said in a statement Monday. "They need to have an opportunity to do that, and I will make a judgment at some point whether I need to go push a little bit or help that process. And I'm certainly willing to. I am open to that possibility, but as I've said, we're not raising any expectations about an American plan or other things."