By PATRICK MARTIN, Toronto Globe and Mail

The news was greeted with great fanfare: The Dead Sea, it was announced last week, is among the finalists in the competition to determine the seven natural wonders of the world.

Israel's new coalition government, led by Likud Leader Benjamin Netanyahu, was sworn into office last week amid consternation over what it would mean to prospects for peace in the Middle East.

Who will be Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's heir?
The Middle East loves to swap theories about the succession to Mubarak, who will turn 81 in May.

The Armenian pottery nameplate beside the door is common, even among Jews, but the painting over the door is a dead giveaway. Only a Christian would display outside his home a picture of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, with its black-domed roof and cross on top. And only an unusual Christian would display it here, in the middle of Israel's biggest Jewish settlement.

There may be more than 30 parties in the running, but with just over a week before Israel's parliamentary election, the race has come down to two.

Most people remember the headlines: Massacre Of Innocents As UN School Is Shelled; Israeli Strike Kills Dozens At UN School.

When the leader of Israel's religious-Zionist Meimad Party recently addressed a meeting of 800 high-school students in a Tel Aviv suburb, his words on the virtue of Israeli democracy for all its citizens were drowned out by student chants of "Death to the Arabs."
Not since the days of the now-illegal Kach party has Rabbi Michael Melchior heard such anti-Arab sentiment.

It is a complicated conflict in a long-troubled area. Here is a look at some of the issues involved in finding an end to the fighting:
Q: What's holding up a ceasefire?

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad must have missed the lesson of Joseph in Egypt, as set down in the Koran. The story of the young man who interprets the pharaoh's dreams and advises him to store grain during the years of plenty appears to be lost on Ahmadinejad.

Say what you will about them, but the people of Gaza are survivors. No matter what gets thrown at them, they find a way to get around it.