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The Haifa Wehbe apology tour

First, Beyonce caused an uproar in Egypt with her insolent sex party.

Now Lebanese crooner Haifa Wehbe is in trouble for referring to black Nubians as "monkeys" in one of her most recent songs. A group of Nubian lawyers submitted a complaint to Egypt's public prosecutor and asked that the song be banned.

Wehbe has apologized profusely; she insists the offending lyric was written by an Egyptian songwriter, who said "Nubian monkey" was "an innocent term for a popular children's game." (Good rule of thumb: Comparisons between black people and monkeys are never a good idea, even if you're Haifa Wehbe or the New York Post.)

You've got to figure Nancy Ajram is on the phone with her agent cancelling her next Egyptian tour date. Misr's a rough place for a diva.

B'Tselem: Settlements occupy 42 percent of West Bank

Ben-Eliezer makes "secret trip" to Turkey: Israeli TV

CENTCOM talking sense on Hamas and Hizballah

Al-Akhbar: Our weekly brief

Peace Processing

Talking about direct talks: Netanyahu returns to the White House

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivering a statement in Jerusalem on July 1, 2010. (Photo: AFP)
US president Barack Obama will use a White House meeting with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to push for an extended West Bank settlement freeze. If Netanyahu doesn't offer one - and the domestic politics are quite difficult for him - it's hard to see any possibility of direct talks with the Palestinian Authority later this year.

The Afghan Surge

Obama's southern strategy

Gen. David Petraeus testifying on Capitol Hill. (Photo: Reuters)
The president's decision to nominate Gen. David Petraeus as the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan won't mean a major change in strategy. But there are mounting reasons for pessimism about current policy, particularly the relentless focus on southern Afghanistan. The deployment of tens of thousands of additional troops to Kandahar and Helmand serves few NATO objectives.

Freedom Flotilla Killings

Anticlimax: How much did the flotilla raid really change regional politics?

A demonstration in London against the Israeli attack on the Gaza-bound flotilla. (Photo: AFP)
It has accelerated Israel's isolation from several of its neighbors and allies; it has sharpened divisions within Turkish domestic politics; it has deepened perceptions that the Obama administration as too close to Israel. And it seems to have had a remarkably minor impact on Palestinian domestic politics.