World

Fragile peace could be broken in Lebanon if Hezbollah fails to convince of Israel's involvement in Hariri murder. By Malachy Browne in Beirut.

Grass roots activists have proposed a new system to elect the EU President. The system would allow candidates outside the largest political grouping in the EU Parliament to run for the Presidency. By Brendan Kelly.

Dunnes Stores has received a petition signed by over 6,000 people demanding that it cease stocking Israeli goods. By Eamonn Costello.

Around fifty protesters gathered with flags and banners at Dunnes Stores head office in Georges Street, Dublin at lunchtime yesterday to support the boycott.

Monday next marks the six-month anniversary of the most severe earthquake to hit Haiti in over 200 years. The magnitude 7.0 earthquake killed over 230,000 people, left a million more homeless and affected over three million Haitians. Most of the homes around the capital Port Au Prince were destroyed and the national infrastructure smashed, obstructing the relief effort. By Eamonn Costello.

The Boston Consulting Group is one of the most prestigious management consulting firms in the world.

Among its former employees are Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel, Mitt Romney who ran for the US presidency in 2008, Ira Magaziner, former policy adviser to President Clinton and an adviser to the IDA here, and lots of business high-flyers and lorry loads of academics. Its research work carries a lot of weight.

The Irish Anti-War Movement (IAWM) held a debate on Tuesday entitled, ‘Israel: Is Boycott the Answer?’. The debate was held following Minister Michael Martin's expulsion of an Israeli official for the alleged forgery of Irish passports linked with the murder of a Hamas official in Dubai.

Israel claims it had compelling reasons for hijacking the Free Gaza ships in international waters and kidnapping their passengers; all of them are bogus. By Dr. David Morrisson.

The World Bank estimates that 80% of the imports into Gaza come via the tunnels under the Egypt/Gaza border. They are not checked for arms by the Israeli (or Egyptian) authorities. Why does Israel remain relatively relaxed about this vast quantity of goods that enter Gaza unchecked, while it insists that the small amount being carried in by the Free Gaza flotilla had to be checked?

On Saturday, a diverse group of Muslims staged a protest outside the Belgian embassy in Dublin. The crowd were demonstrating against plans by the Belgian parliament to ban the public wearing of face veils, a move which will have a significant impact on the Muslim population.

Egypt, Iraq, Pakistan, Libya, Uzbekistan, Turkey and Somalia were represented outside the embassy, however the most vocal of the small crowd were Irish converts.

An audience in Dublin heard yesterday that a Committee of the European Union will be refused access to Palestine by Israel in a forthcoming trip, and that media reportage does not reflect the "reality on the ground" for Palestinians. By Shane Creevy.

Proinsias de Rossa, Chair of the European Parliament's Delegation for Relations with the Palestinian Legislative Council (DPLC), explained that a European Parliament Committee are to meet Israeli and Palestinian sides in the last week of May.

For the survivors of the earthquake, the most difficult thing is continuing. Death is all around them – they have lost family, friends, communities, homes, everything. But life continues in the camps. By Deirdre O’Shaughnessy.

Life goes on. People endure. The most shocking aspect of refugee camps in Port au Prince is that one simple fact.