U.S. Republican Party presidential candidate John McCain has called for increased sanctions against Iran for its alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Recent reports indicating that Israel and Syria are indirectly engaged in Turkish brokered peace talks suggest a major (albeit overdue) development in the Mid-East peace-making process. Since the collapse of the Israeli-Syrian peace negotiations in May 2000, I have consistently been advocating the need for Israeli-Syrian reconciliation specifically because there is not a single dispute in the region that is not affected in one form or another by this conflict.

Jimmy Carter tells the Israeli Council on Foreign Relations that Hamas leaders have told him that they would accept a peace deal with Israel negotiated with Palestinian authority. Also Hamas lets Shalit, the captured Israeli soldier in Hamas custody, to send another letter home, saying that he is in good health.

President Bashar Al-Assad on Sunday renewed Syria's commitment to realize just and comprehensive peace and achieve stability and security in the region, whether in Iraq, Palestine or in Lebanon.

After a long weekend of discussions and crises between delegations from Hamas and Fatah, the two parties have signed the 'Sana Announcement, calling to resume their dialogue. Only few hours passed, however, before it was revealed that the agreement might be void of substance, due to internal conflicts within Fatah itself.

iBAHN, leading provider of digital converged services for hoteliers, today announces the acquisition of Menacom, the largest provider of digital internet services to hoteliers in Egypt.

Vice President Dick Cheney will visit the Middle East later this month to meet with various leaders in the region.

A new World Bank report says countries in the Middle East and North Africa need to overhaul their education systems in order to thrive in the new global economy. The report says the region has made important progress in improving literacy and closing the gender gap, but needs to shift the emphasis to teaching key skills such as problem-solving, critical thinking and languages. VOA Correspondent Challiss McDonough has more from our Middle East bureau in Cairo.

Internet speeds have slowed to a crawl in much of the Middle East and parts of South Asia after two underwater telecommunications cables were damaged Wednesday in the Mediterranean Sea. The problems are also affecting telephone service in some places, and many businesses are struggling to work around the outages. VOA Correspondent Challiss McDonough has more from Cairo.

The final report of the Winograd Commissionon on the inconclusive 2006 war against Hezbollah guerrillas blamed the military and the Govt. for failing to protect Israel from 4,000 Hezbollah rockets and faulted decision-making.

Franco Frattini
European Commissioner responsible for Justice, Freedom and Security
From the outside, looking in: international perspectives on the Middle East

President Bush has ended his Middle East tour on a positive note, with a show of support for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. VOA White House Correspondent Paula Wolfson reports the leaders spoke after seaside talks in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh.