Israel

An Israeli Cabinet Minister who voted against the historic prisoner swap deal with Hamas denounced on Wednesday the agreement as a "huge victory for terror".

Perhaps the most famous prisoner in the Middle East, Gilad Shalit (or rather, the campaign for his release) has proved a powerful rallying point for Israeli's over the past five years. But the young soldier has also been used as a political pawn by the Israeli government to justify their blockade of the Gaza strip.

The news that Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit will soon be released after five years being held captive by militant Palestinians has provoked strong reactions across the world. Here we take a look at the way the story has been covered in the U.S., the U.K., and the Middle East.

Tony Blair's role as a Peace envoy in the Middle east is once again under scrutiny after, the Palestine Liberation Organization reiterated previous accusations of bias toward Israel, saying the former UK Prime Minister should no longer represent the UN Quartet on the Middle east, aimed at the Middle East conflict.

The Palestinian Authority has won a first diplomatic victory after the country gained initial approval of a bid for full membership in UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, a move deemed "inexplicable" by the United States.

With Russia and China vetoing a UN Security Council resolution threatening action against Syria following the deadly and brutal crackdown on protests, cracks within the UN Scecurity Council are becoming more apparent.

The United States Defence Secretary Leon Panetta has openly and bluntly criticised Israel's foreign policy by blaming the Benjamin Netanyahu's government of being partly responsible for its growing isolation in the region.

With criticisms against the U.S. efforts to block the Palestinian statehood bid and the UN Quartet's unwillingness to directly tackle the settlements issue growing, many accuse those leading efforts to renew peace negotiations of being biased in favour of Israel, leading to the country becoming more and more regionally isolated.

The news that Anwar al-Awlaki has been killed in Yemen, courtesy of a U.S. drone attack, must surely round off a pretty poor week in an even worse year for the followers of Al-Qaeda.

British Holiday Makers Warned Over Deadly Jellyfish Invasion. British holiday makers heading to their favourite Mediterranean spots have been warned of the increase in deadly jelly fish.

With the Israeli-Palestinian conflict back on the main international agenda, the role of the UN quartet charged of facilitating peace in the Middle East by the UN and more specifically of Tony Blair has also been put on the spotlight.

While Israeli prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for a return to negotiation to try and prevent the Palestinian statehood bid from seeing light, recent settlements development prove that if peace will not come out of the UN it is even more unlikely to come from peace talks.

The need for faster broadband is not only felt here on Earth, but NASA has found that its current 6Mbps connection with Mars is just too slow, and has been trialling laser-powered 100Mbps broadband.

With Muammar Gaddafi out of the picture, many thought, that the long and sometimes very provocative speeches, at the UN would be history. Iranian president Ahmadinejad however showed Thursday September 23 that he still had some fire left, positioning himself as the voice of the oppressed.

Palestinians watched Barack Obama's section of the speech about Palestine en masse and as they listened the U.S. president telling the UN General Assembly that the Palestinians deserve their own state, but that this would only be achieved through talks with Israel, many still wondered why a country that supports change in Syria, Libya and Egypt, still threatens to veto their statehood bid.

Today is Peace Day, a day "for wide-scale community action and a day for UN agencies and aid organisations to safely carry out life-saving work" and is a project brought to life by the Peace One Day organisation, supported by stars such as Jude law or Angelina Jolie and created by Jeremy Gilley.

As the date set for the Palestinian UN statehood bid approaches, tensions between the supporters and opponents to the planned request are mounting, and with the U.S publicly opposing the bid, Obama's image in the Muslim world is set to dwindle even more.

Despite insistence from both Israel and the U.S. that peace talks should be prioritised, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has confirmed his intention to launch a UN statehood bid on September 23 and as tensions rise, U.S. politicians are now threatening to cut U.S. Palestinian aid.

Ever since Palestinian leaders announced their intention to seek UN membership as an indepentend state in September, critics have attacked the Palestinian strategy and even ridiculed the idea that it would provide Palestinians on the ground with better opportunities.

After weeks of speculation, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki announced Thursday that the Palestinian Authority will submit its bid for full UN membership with the UN Security Council (UNSC) on Friday 23 September but Palestinian leaders are still questioning why the U.S. refuses to support what they call the "Palestinian Arab Spring".

The Palestinian statehood bid at the United Nations is threatening to turn into a real diplomatic incident as supporters and opponents battle over whether or not Palestinian leaders should go ahead with the move.

As a UN list proves, children are still being recruited and used in warfare while schools are repeatedly being attacked and closed with a UN official saying this was "another tragic year" for the world's youngsters.

Russia has announced it will support the Palestinian statehood bid, proving the country is gradually emphasising its opposition the U.S who supports Israel and has threatened to veto the move.

With Turkey's Prime Minister becoming more vocal against Israel, the Netanyahu government finds itself at the centre of a regional opposition and with Erdogan embarking on a trip to Egypt, Libya and Tunisia, analysts warn that the situation could further Isolate Tel-Aviv.

The Palestinian Authority has officially launched its bid to become a full member of the United Nations, using its campaign to denounce what it sees as the United States' double standards.

The events of 9/11 seem very clear to most people in the world. Nineteen terrorists were able to get through airport security, hijack four passenger airliners and fly them into targets to cause maximum devastation to New York and Washington DC. However to some, the reaction of the United States in the aftermath of 9/11 does not add up, raising suspicions of an 'inside job.'

As Tel Aviv refuses to apologise for the deadly Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound Turkish-flagged protest flotilla that killed nine pro-Palestinian activists last year, Turkey is "totally suspending" all trade, military and defence industry ties with Israel, the Turkish prime minister said.

The Israeli government is finding itself in an increasingly difficult position after, in addition to being faced with internal and external protests, Turkey has announced its intention to expel the Israeli ambassador and to suspend all remaining military agreements with Israel after details emerged of a United Nations report into last year's deadly raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla.

Tensions between Israel and Egypt refuse to die down as on Friday hundreds of Egyptians protested outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo to call on the government to expel Israel's ambassador following last week border's incident in which five Egyptian policemen were killed by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF).

Concern about the further decline of Israeli-Palestinian relations once again emerged after Gaza-based militants fired a fresh volley of rockets into Israel despite an informal ceasefire brokered by Egypt between the Jewish state and Islamist Hamas, following three days of violence.