Bomb blast in Beirut
A bomb blast has ripped through an upmarket area of the Lebanese capital of Beirut, injuring at least six people in a predominantly Muslim district.
Lebanese troops have continued to shell the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared in northern Lebanon for a third day, in an effort to combat the strength of Sunni group Fatah al-Islam in the camp. At least 27 civilians, 20 fighters and 32 soldiers have been killed in the fighting since Sunday. Concern grows for the plight of some 40,000 civilians trapped amid the bombing.
Fatah al-Islam announced that it would cease combat with the Lebanese army from 11:30 GMT on Tuesday were the army to halt its attack.
Follow events in Lebanon on David Kenner's blog, or for a Lebanese perspective, try Across the Bay.
Israeli woman killed by Gaza rocket
An Israeli woman has been killed by a Qassam rocket from Gaza in the commercial centre of Sderot, southern Israel. In response, Israeli fighter jets launched airstrikes against two buildings in central Gaza before dawn on Tuesday, hitting two workshops in the Zeytonia and al-Bureiji quarters.
Israeli Deputy Defence Minister Ephraim Sneh conceded on Tuesday that "no one who is in the circle of commanders and leaders in Hamas", even Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, "is immune from a strike" designed to stem Gaza rocket attacks.
Mient Jan Faber and Mary Kaldor discuss how the dignity of Palestinians, along with their hopes of a political settlement, is being crushed by conflict, economic degradation, and the world's neglect, on Open Democracy.
Muslim Brotherhood members arrested in Egypt
Egyptian authorities have detained 39 members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood on charges of holding "a secret meeting".
Iran waging proxy war in Iraq
A senior United States official in Baghdad has warned that Iran is fighting a proxy war in Iraq, forging links with Sunni Arab militias and al-Qaida elements in a bid to undermine US and British "will" in the country, and elicit a congressional mutiny in Washington. It is suspected that Tehran is pursuing a similar policy in Afghanistan.
25 people have been killed and 60 injured after a car bomb exploded on Tuesday in an outdoor market in the predominantly Shia neighbourhood of Amil, Baghdad.
Read a local perspective on the situation in Baghdad at Baghdad Connect and Nabil's blog.
The belief in a military solution to the US's predicament in Iraq underlies the Bush administration's rejection of the Baker-Hamilton commission's report, says Bob Burnett on Open Democracy.
Pakistani forces tackle al-Qaida security camp
Pakistani security forces launched an attack on members of an alleged al-Qaida training camp in North Waziristan on Tuesday, after tribal elders sent to tell its organisers to close the camp down came under fire. At least three suspects were killed in the incident.
In north-western Pakistan, vigilante vice squads inspired by the Afghan Taleban leader Mullah Omar are imposing their hardline version of Islam on local residents in the lawless border region near Afghanistan. Meanwhile, three policemen were briefly held captive in northern Islamabad on Monday by students advocating a stricter interpretation of Islam.
Pakistan's president, General Pervez Musharraf, has been advised by members of the ruling party, the Pakistani Muslim League, to seek reconciliation with the Supreme Court Justice, Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.
Somalis adrift amid refugee-IDP terminology discrepancy
Somalis fleeing recent violence in Mogadishu are unable to obtain aid from the United Nations (UN) in Somaliland as refugees or internally displaced persons (IDPs), because the UN does not recognise the breakaway republic as independent, while the government of Somaliland is unwilling to recognise Somalis as IDPs.
Jawahir Adam provides a succinct analysis on the breakaway republic of Somaliland on Open Democracy.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has expressed concern that their effort to feed one million Somalis is under threat from pirates, with a WFP-chartered vessel attacked on Saturday.
The Oromo Liberation Front in eastern Ethiopia has said that their forces have killed more than 150 Ethiopian soldiers this month in the Ogaden region. Ethiopian officials deny the claim.
