Regardless of how the Libyan revolt plays out, in the global economy the humanitarian crisis is just one deadly aspect of the fighting. Thousands are believed dead, and the fabric of society has been shredded in what has become a civil war. But to the nations of Europe that have come to rely on a steady flow of oil and petrodollars from Moammar Kadafi's nation, the destruction of what could be called Libya Inc. is likely to be the most painful blow.

But scores of unemployed young men still slouch in the cafes in the afternoons, smoking water pipes, playing cards and sipping coffee. And at night, the fishing boats still ferry thousands of desperate workers across the Mediterranean, to Europe.

It's been a very patriotic period for Irish Ambassador Breifne O’Reilly. Aside from the St. Patrick’s Day reception he hosted at his residence in Herzliya Pituah last Thursday, the previous week he hosted another reception at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque to mark the opening of the annual Irish Film Week...

The European Parliament's culture committee last week asked the European Commission to strengthen the role of culture in the EU's external policy, asking EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to appoint an EU 'cultural ambassador'.

The top Portuguese diplomat in Turkey has said the two countries could benefit from sharing best business practices which each has developed over many years and help each other out in markets where they have developed competitive leads.

DOHA --- My conversation with two North African friends ranged widely, from the role of satellite television in the Arab world to the prospects for electoral reform in the region. Then we came to how other nations would deal with the new dynamics of Arab politics. One of my friends said, “In the past, diplomacy has been with the leaders, but now it must be with the people.”

The revolts in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya have brought home to many people that Turkey has become a force to be reckoned with in this region. Turkey enjoys lots of credibility in the Arab world. It has burgeoning trade ties and solid political relations with many Middle Eastern and Mediterranean countries.

To publish or not to publish? That was the question asked in Israel again and again this week ever since the brutal massacre of the Fogel family in Itamar last Friday night. To respect the dead and conceal the pictures or distribute the horrific images in the hope that the West won't be able to look the other way from yet another brutal attack by Palestinian terrorists.