Feared by his people, his neighbours and the West, Russia’s President Putin is ruthlessly rebuilding the Soviet Empire. The tragedy, as he hosts his country’s first ever G8 summit this week, is that we are letting it happen.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — By wasting little time withdrawing troops from northern Gaza over the weekend after a two-day operation, Israel made clear it did not want to get bogged down in territory it quit less than a year ago.

DAMASCUS (AP) — Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched in the Syrian capital Monday in a government-sanctioned protest to support Palestinians in the Gaza Strip under attack following last month’s capture of an Israeli soldier.