LEBANON: Hizbullah Fortifies Frontier Against Israel

In the mountains towering above this southern city, Hizbullah (Party of God) is building a new line of defence on lands where a fierce war was once fought between the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and Israel.

MIDEAST: In a Muddle Over Mixed Signals

"Get your hands off the Land of Israel and the people of the Land of Israel - that's what we need to tell Mr. Obama - get on the phone to the White House each and every one of you!"

MIDEAST: Europe Steps In to Pressure Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Palestinian counterpart Salam Fayyad have both been scrambling earnestly to win the backing of European leaders in advance of what could be a major EU policy shift that aims at creating new impetus for Palestinian-Israeli peace prospects.

EGYPT: New Money Boosts Puppy Mill Industry

A few years ago, dog markets were dull places with pooch purveyors keeping an eye open for more lucrative business.

MIDEAST: Palestinians Say No to Crumbs

The Palestinian Authority (PA) appears to be successfully countering the Israeli government's refusal to work towards a two-state solution to end the decades- long conflict.

MIDEAST: Settlers Aim a Kick at Football

Without an efficient bureaucracy, occupation of the land of another people cannot be sustained. This is all the more true of Israel's 42-year occupation of Palestinian lands.

MIDEAST: One Palestinian Prisoner Could Change the Balance

The fate of one prisoner locked in an Israeli jail could release the moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace process from its own jail - provided the timing is right.

ECONOMY-LEBANON: Skewed Policies Widen Urban-Rural Divide

The luxury brands and fashion powerhouses that line the streets of the Lebanese capital seem to suggest that this country is enjoying an hour of glory as the world is in the throes of a severe recession.

MIDEAST: The Man Who Would Move a Hill

In this city of fraternal faiths and conflicting political aspirations, dreams need to be made of sterner stuff.

LEBANON: Refugees Remain Sceptical of Nahr al-Bared Reconstruction

More than two years after their refugee camp was destroyed in a war between the Lebanese army and the Islamist militant group Fatah al-Islam, Nahr al-Bared refugees Wednesday witnessed the start of the camp’s reconstruction. Their relief is mixed with scepticism, however.

MIDEAST: Palestinian Children Face Daily Settler Attacks Getting to School

Being able to travel to school in relative safety is something children all over the world take for granted. But, for Palestinian children living in the shadow of the ubiquitous and illegal Israeli settlements dotting the West Bank, simply walking to school can be a terrifying experience.

MIDEAST: Threat Rises From Within

Israelis were perturbed when new recruits at a recent passing-out parade at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, the remains of Judaism's holiest site, suddenly unfurled banners reading, 'Our Sons Do Not Evacuate Jews'.

LEBANON: Migrant Women Dying on the Job

October and November have been bloody months for Lebanon's migrant domestic workers - over the last five weeks nine women have died. Most deaths have been reported as suicide.

MIDEAST: West Is East, When Israel Decides

Along a wall not about to come down - a hotel no longer a hotel, but an outpost.

MIDEAST: U.S. Takes Aim Over Jordan’s Shoulder

In the bleak and seemingly endless desert expanse that unfolds east of Jordan's capital city, Amman, lies a crucial cog in the ambitious regional designs of the U.S. and its allies in the Middle East.

Q&A: No Unilateral Declaration of Palestinian State, Says Erekat

The Palestinian Authority has embarked on a new strategic drive to get renewed international recognition for the borders of the future Palestinian state. Last Thursday it gained backing for this approach from the Arab League.

MIDEAST: Gaza Graduates Search for Vitamin W

"We fast a long time," says Gaza graduate Mona Ismail, 23. "Only to break our fast on a piece of onion."

MIDEAST: New Face of Palestine, Now Showing

Other than to movie aficionados, the refurbishing of an old cinema hall is no cause for great excitement.

MIDEAST: The ‘Unknown’ Fight the Illegal

"Make sure your father gets this," the municipal inspector tells a ten-year-old boy at the gate of the concrete house in an alleyway in the Al-Bustan quarter of Silwan, a Palestinian neighbourhood right under the shadow of the walled Old City.

MIDEAST: Abbas Produces a Dubious Twist

U.S. and Israeli failure to take either Palestinian rights or Israeli settlement expansion seriously has placed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his Palestinian Authority (PA) in an untenable situation, which could seriously damage peace prospects.

RIGHTS: Palestinian Women Suffer as Israel Violates CEDAW

Palestinian women continue to suffer abuse and denial of basic human rights at the hands of Israeli settlers and soldiers in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.