Amid defiance on the part of Hamas and endurance by the population, no end seems in sight to the policy of starving the Palestinians into submission, writes Erica Silverman

The UN peace-keeping force in Lebanon finally receives its rules of engagement, to the disquiet of many Lebanese, reports Lucy Fielder

Al-Maliki continues to seek an end to violence, though little on the ground indicates that one will come, reports Nermeen Al-Mufti

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan last week scrambled to defuse growing tensions with the country's new hardline high command as the Turkish military once again began to flex its political muscles, reports Gareth Jenkins from Ankara

Western powers press for a resolution of the Darfur crisis even as Sudan and other Arab states counsel caution, writes Gamal Nkrumah