As families fled Lebanon’s southern city of Tyre, the regional manager of the agency Christian Aid said “the situation on the ground is grim and getting worse.”

The foreign minister, George Lillikas, asked for financial help from European countries to help the island cope with the influx.

The letter contains … no statements on the Iranian nuclear program” and also does not address the current fighting in Lebanon, Merkel’s spokesman, Ulrich Wilhelm, told reporters. He said it was devoted largely to criticism of Israel and its right to exist.

It would be astonishing if Hizbullah and Israel were not now both reflecting on the old adage that it is easier to start a war than to stop one.

The religious differences which underpin so much modern conflict – not least that currently prevailing in the troubled Middle East – are based on ancient texts upon which time has bestowed the epithet “scripture”. The implication of this is that such texts proffer those who believe in their allegedly divine …

Your report of Thursday’s Commons debate (Downing St and Foreign Office at odds, July 21) suggested that I thought the Israeli action in Lebanon was “necessary”. In fact, as I pointed out later in the debate in response to a question from Susan Kramer, my view is “I would not …

Condoleezza Rice has described the plight of Lebanon as a part of the “birth pangs of a new Middle East” and said that Israel should ignore calls for a ceasefire.

A deathly silence prevails in southern Beirut, as Lebanese people are evacuating to escape Israeli bombs. Hezbollah has the region under tight control to prevent infiltration by Israeli agents.

On July 20, Mujahideen exterminated 11 and wounded at least 10 Russian invaders and local traitors in Chechnya, reports a spokesman of Eastern Front HQ of CRI Armed Forces.

The five Palestinians died when Israeli shells hit their house in Gaza City’s Shijia district on Friday morning, medics and Hamas members said.