This century has witnessed China's emergence as the main challenger to the superpower status of the United States. In dramatic fashion, China is beginning to establish its foothold in the highly strategic, energy-rich region of the Middle East by forging strong ties with regional powers and gradually challenging US-Israel regional dominance.

While President Obama's strenuous, year-plus effort to restore American prestige already has achieved measurable success, most of the Arab world remains suspicious and often hostile. Hurting more than helping is Al-Hurra, the official Arab-language broadcasting outlet sponsored by the U.S. government...

South America's largest country, Brazil is keen to play a key role in the whole of the Middle East as it enjoys "traditional" and cultural relations with the countries of the region for several decades.

The Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, yesterday criticised the United States for not doing enough to foster peace in the Middle East, warning that the regional situation was "dangerous" and could slip out of control.

The Fourth Ministerial Meeting of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum will open Thursday in China’s northern port city Tianjin. Under the theme "deepen comprehensive cooperation to achieve common development," the gathering is widely expected to further promote bilateral ties.

Israelis reacted with a measure of resignation and humor to the news that Lebanon one-upped them for the world record for the largest plate of hummus. In the latest installment of the hummus war between the countries, a team of Lebanese chefs prepared a serving of hummus that weighed in at 23,130 kilograms (59,992 pounds), setting a Guinness World Record

APDS Blogger: John Nahas

All three parties to these talks have a profound interest in a conflict-ending, two-state peace agreement. To have a realistic hope of reaching that goal, however, Israelis and Palestinians must adhere to one ground rule: Neither side can allow provocations from any quarter to abort the negotiations.