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27/6/2008- The Daily Star- What’s going on between Syria and Israel? Are the indirect peace negotiations through Turkish mediators that were announced last month for real? I’ve been talking with sources on all sides, and they present an upbeat view of a peace process that has taken many people (including top Bush administration officials) by surprise. (more…)

4/6/2008- By HADY AMR- After years of turmoil, and on the heels of the highly successful Lebanese National Dialogue held in Doha in mid-May, Lebanon’s leaders swore in a new president on Sunday under the banner of a broad-based coalition government. (more…)

Posted by The Daily Star-You do not normally get a second chance in the business of statehood, but Lebanon may be in the fortunate situation of experiencing exactly that. The Doha accord will be analyzed and debated for months and years - like Taif has been - without any firm conclusions. This is, after all, an imperfect process, comprising identities, interests, institutions and ideologies. (more…)

AFP told that The violence-weary Lebanese are hoping that their leaders will return home from Arab-brokered talks in Qatar armed with a solution to heal a feud that has plunged the country into deadly chaos.”I feel that this time, despite all the difficulties, they will reach an agreement, especially after all the bloodshed of recent days,” businessman Abdullah Abu Tahan said. (more…)

A leading international human rights organization has called on Lebanese authorities to investigate reports of atrocities committed during last week’s sectarian violence that claimed 65 lives across Lebanon. (more…)

Posted  by Michael Bluhm- The Daily Star 
Lebanon’s political bosses have sprinted into action in the two weeks since the Arab League’s Damascus summit failed to break the deadlock here, but their torrent of travel and talk will also do nothing to upend the political stasis prevailing in Lebanon since late 2006, a number of analysts told The Daily Star on Wednesday (more…)

By Tariq Alhomayed- asharqalawsat
Like a free show or the many comedic and tearful scenes originating from the Arab world, the Damascus summit was indeed an event worth watching. Here we witnessed scenes that at best could be described with the words of the Poet Ahmed Shawqi who once wrote, “You spoke and you were a disaster”. (more…)

By Mohamed Abdel Salam- The Daily Star
Ever since 2001, when Arab countries decided to hold a “leaders’ summit” regularly, nearly no summit has taken place without problems. Even before that time, Arab summits were never easy affairs. Arab countries disagreed over the necessity of some meetings and the content of resolutions adopted; there were personal problems among some leaders; and there were sensitivities regarding the role of the host, convener, or chairman with respect to the other leaders. Arab public opinion was rarely satisfied with summit resolutions. Almost all summits faced problems in terms of representation, agenda, management of the sessions, and final decisions. For decades, the “summit institution” was too crisis-ridden to be turned into a regular meeting. (more…)

Posted by Tariq Alhomayed -  Asharq Al-Awsat
I see no reason for surprise over Saudi Arabia’s decision to send its representative [Ahmad Qattan, Saudi’s ambassador to the Arab League] to attend the Arab Summit in Damascus. In fact; the question that needs to be posed is this: Why attend? (more…)

Posted by Inter-Press 
Soon after the American destroyer USS Cole was deployed off Lebanon’s shore in  late February 28 to “preserve political stability,” a group of young men gathered in the Southern agricultural town of Qana to voice their fears. “Everyone feels there is a war coming,” said university student Salman Ismael, 22, “especially after the killing of [senior Hizbullah commander] Imad Mughniyeh and what is happening in Gaza. And now US ships come to the waters of Lebanon. Israel wants to improve her army in the Middle East after its defeat in 2006. She wants the Arabs to be scared of her.” (more…)

Posted by David Kenner - NOW Staff

A renewed gold rush has recently seized the international markets, pushing the price of the metal above $1,000 per ounce for the first time in history.  Prices have been driven by fear of a US recession, as investors have moved their money out of stocks and into commodities like precious metals and oil. (more…)

Posted by Martin Feldstein-The Daily Star
When the euro’s value reached an all-time high of $1.52, Jean-Claude Trichet, the president of the European Central Bank, told the press that he was concerned about its rapid appreciation and wanted to “underline” the United States Treasury’s official policy of supporting a strong dollar. Several European finance ministers subsequently echoed a similar theme. (more…)