MIDEAST: A Quick Guide to Some Stumbling Blocks

Israel and Syria recently announced the renewal of talks, with the aim of reaching a comprehensive peace agreement. For now, the talks, which are being mediated by Turkey, are indirect and are aimed at preparing the groundwork for full and direct negotiations. For a peace treaty to be reached, the sides will have to successfully negotiate a series of issues.

MIDEAST: Israel Targets Iran Through Syrian Friendship

"Spin" was the chorus that predictably emanated from Israel's parliament when the office of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced last week that Israel and Syria had initiated talks ultimately aimed at reaching a peace agreement. But to reduce the renewal of peace talks between Jerusalem and Damascus, after an eight-year hiatus, to mere "spin" is to underestimate how it currently serves the strategic interests of both countries.

EGYPT: People Go One Way Over Israel, Regime Another

The anniversary of Israel's 60th year of nationhood this month drew hearty congratulations from capitals around the world. But in Egypt, official acceptance of the Hebrew state contrasts starkly with popular disgust over Israel's continued mistreatment of the Palestinian people.

MIDEAST: Egypt Takes a Step Back from Bush Embrace

On his trip to the region this week, U.S. President George W. Bush dismayed even his staunchest Arab allies by expressing unprecedented levels of U.S. support for Israel. In a rare sign of Egyptian displeasure with Washington, President Hosni Mubarak left a major economic summit before Bush had a chance to deliver a scheduled address.

MIDEAST: Can't Play, It Might Rain Rockets

Ruti Edri refers wryly to the upstairs floor of her home as 'The Museum'. It is an undisturbed and uninhabited space, seemingly frozen in time: the rooms are empty, the beds have no linen, the bathroom is unused, and there are no clothes in the cupboards. "We live downstairs," she says. "My children aren't prepared to come up here. They're too scared."

LEBANON: Breakthrough At Last

The highway connecting East and West Beirut, known locally as 'the ring', was bustling with unusual activity Wednesday morning. An incredible sight seemed to attract passers-by, who slowed down their cars suddenly before coming to a full stop and exiting. By the Riad al-Solh statue in the Beirut Central District (BCD), a symbol of Lebanese dissension had fallen.

LEBANON: Druze Take On Hezbollah, Because They Must

Ghostly white sculptures are scattered along the greenery on each side of a sinuous road leading up to a Lebanese mountain range, their silhouettes contrasting against the violet sky. This area, known as the Symposium in Aley, Mount Lebanon, is located behind the infamous '888' mountaintop, a strategic point in Lebanese military history.

MIDEAST: The Anniversary Is Over, the Agony Is Not

Holding up an old copper key, Yousef al-Hums settles down to retell the story of his eviction from what was once his home, and now is Israel. Because only the 60th anniversary of the creation of Israel is over, the occupation of home of which al-Hums still keeps a key is not.

IRAQ: Praying, Not Playing

In the struggle now just to stay alive, everyone has forgotten that Iraq has lost, among other things, its tradition in sports. Some of its best sportsmen are now refugees.

LEBANON: All Roads Do Not Lead to Beirut

In the wake of the deadly conflict that has left Lebanon with at least 65 dead and 200 injured, the roads in and out of the Land of the Cedars have proved a difficult journey for most. As the rubble was being cleared by large trucks - after an Arab delegation was able to negotiate a breakthrough among feuding politicians – some Lebanese are asking how long the roads will remain clear.

MIDEAST: Amid Rocket Attacks, Israel Ponders Peace

A rocket attack on the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon this week has again ignited calls in Israel for an invasion of Gaza, but Prime Minister Ehud Olmert still seems more inclined towards an Egyptian-mediated ceasefire proposal with Hamas in the coastal strip.

IRAQ: Nature Adds to Occupation Blows

Farmers in the Diyala province in Iraq have been hit by just about every crisis possible. First the security disaster dried up supplies and markets, then lack of electricity cut irrigation, and now comes a drying up of water resources.

MIDEAST: Siege Hits Palestinians Before They Are Born

The Israeli siege of Gaza that has restricted access to food, water and medicine is now beginning to hit unborn children and newborn babies.

EGYPT: Giving With One Hand, Taking Back With the Other

In an effort to offset soaring inflation, President Hosni Mubarak last month announced generous salary increases for all public sector employees. The gesture lost its lustre days later, however, when the government drastically raised prices of subsidised fuel.

MIDEAST: Another Corruption Scandal Pursues Olmert

Badly tarnished by his management of the Lebanon war in the summer of 2006, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had begun, in recent months, to resurrect his public image. But a new corruption scandal in which he is being questioned by police has again undermined his credibility, and raised questions about his ability to govern effectively.

IRAQ: Food Crisis Hits Fallujah

Sharp increases in food prices have generated a new wave of anti-occupation and anti-U.S. sentiment in Fallujah.

MIDEAST: Spy Chief Presents New Peace Plan

Palestinian resistance factions signed on to an Egyptian ceasefire proposal last month aimed at bringing a measure of calm to the hapless Gaza Strip. In a bid to secure Tel Aviv's endorsement of the plan, intelligence chief Omar Suleiman is expected to travel to Israel later this month.

LEBANON: Hezbollah, In Opposition, Takes Charge

At least 11 people are dead and 30 injured during ferocious gun battles pitting opposition Shia Amal and Hezbollah fighters against members of the Sunni Future Movement, which is part of the majority March 14 alliance in government. As the opposition's militia men clamped down on government headquarters, the balance of power seems to have been shifted permanently in the Land of the Cedars.

IRAQ: Running Out of Water in Rising Heat

Water supply is drying out in what was once the agriculturally rich Diyala province north of Baghdad. Baquba, the capital city of Diyala, is now running out of water both for drinking and for irrigation.

LEBANON: Hezbollah Unleashes a Coup Bid

Men clad in black have roamed the streets of Beirut since Wednesday, their faces covered with ski masks or dark kaffiya, as they wreaked havoc in the large avenues leading to the airport or dividing Sunni and Shia areas. As darkness loomed over Lebanon, the winds of discord seem to set the Lebanese capital ablaze.

MIDEAST: Israelis Believe Another War Is Coming

As Israel marks its 60th anniversary, Israelis are deeply pessimistic about the prospects of peace with their neighbours, with an overwhelming majority believing they will be at war again within the next five years.