Editor's update

The Syrian and Saudi leaders made an unprecedented joint visit to Beirut to reduce tensions, after rumours that a United Nations tribunal may indict members of Lebanon's Hezbollah movement for the assassination of the prime minister, Rafiq Hariri.

A Grad rocket from Gaza hit the Israeli city of Ashkelon. Since Israel's assault on Gaza in early 2009, Gaza militants have mostly fired only shorter-range rockets.

Al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the car-bomb that killed four people in the al-Arabiya television bureau in Baghdad this week.

What we're reading

Saving Lebanon
(Al-Ahram Weekly)

Hezbollah in a corner
(Paul Salem/Project Syndicate)

Can Egypt change?
(Foreignpolicy.com)

Israel—asset or liability?
(Chas Freeman/Nixon Centre)

Arab bloggers on France's niqab ban
(Global Voices Online)

Are Israel's false friends multiplying?
(Stephen Walt)

The rise of political Islam in the West
(Marc Lynch in Foreign Affairs)

Iran's modern art collection is waiting to re-emerge
(New York Times)

Highlights
Syria and the niqab

Take it off

A secular-minded government rejects excessively religious dress in school More»

Resilient Lebanon

Perky again–but for how long?

The country is once again on the up. But its people still hold their breath More»

Iraq's economy

Why business is still in the dumps

Violence and a shortage of electricity hobble manufacturing More»

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