Morning Brief, Monday, July 31

Crisis in the Middle East A day after dozens of Lebanese civilians are killed in an Israeli air strike on Qana, Israel refuses to completely suspend its air campaign in southern Lebanon, saying that Israeli ground forces need support. Still, Lebanese civilians flee, taking advantage of the relative lull in the strikes. Rice cancels a ...

Crisis in the Middle East

Crisis in the Middle East

A day after dozens of Lebanese civilians are killed in an Israeli air strike on Qana, Israel refuses to completely suspend its air campaign in southern Lebanon, saying that Israeli ground forces need support. Still, Lebanese civilians flee, taking advantage of the relative lull in the strikes. Rice cancels a trip to Beirut and returns to Washington, acknowledging that "it's time to get to a cease fire." On Sunday night, the U.N. issued a declaration calling for an end to the violence, but the U.S. blocks language calling for an immediate cease fire. 

In southern Lebanon, Jonathan Steele investigates the often cozy relationship between Hezbollah and the Lebanese army. After Sunday's tragedy in Qana, Arab public opinion sours markedly toward the U.S. and Israel.

Elsewhere

Gunmen kidnap more than two dozen people in central Baghdad, some from the chamber of commerce. Iraqi officials claim the country should receive increased aid as part of the global war on terror.

Supporters of Lopez Obrador have paralyzed much of Mexico City in a bid to hasten an election recount. Votes are being counted in the Democratic Republic of the Congo after yesterday's election, the first in more than four decades. Results there aren't expected for several weeks.

NATO takes formal control of security in southern Afghanistan. In Sri Lanka, the Tamil Tigers call an end to a four-year truce with the government. The Sudanese army breaks the widely-ignored Darfur peace agreement by attacking rebels. Venezuela's Chavez pledges to stand by Iran under any condition. Wal-Mart employees in China start a union

Carolyn O'Hara is a senior editor at Foreign Policy.

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