On air: Should Israelis and Palestinians be left to make their own peace?

The Palestinian leadership “wants a deal with Israel without any negotiations” and Israel’s leadership “wants negotiations with the Palestinians without any deal.”

And given the latest offer by the Israeli government and the negative response it had from the Palestinian authority, it looks like neither negotiations nor any deal are on the table at the moment.

The Israeli government has offered to stop settlement building in the West Bank for 10 months. But the Palestinian authority is not impressed and officials say that this is nothing new and unless it involves East Jerusalem it was unacceptable.

Are the Swiss being paranoid over minarets?

The Islamic call for prayers – the Azan – is one of Islam’s most iconic rituals.
Years ago members of the clergy would climb the minarets and spread the word by shouting, this was of course before they were replaced by tape recorders and loudspeakers. The minarets thus still perform their function, and has become a subject of debate in societies where Muslims are a minority.