Last week UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said the Israeli-Palestinian issue "carries a powerful symbolic and emotional charge... like no other conflict in the world." There was a sense of optimism, when President Mahmoud Abbas said the Palestinians would form a "unity government" to negotiate the end of the economic and political blockade imposed by Israel and the western powers. But with Hamas and Fatah bitterly divided over recognizing Israel's right to exist, there may be no "unity government" with which to negotiate. We update the Palestinians' internal struggles and look at the mood in Israel after the bombing of Lebanon. We also get some history of the Israeli-Palestinian issue and why it's the source of so much anti-Americanism around the world.

• Making News: In Effort to Defuse Anger, Pope Meets with Muslim Diplomats
  Pope Benedict XVI told Muslim diplomats today that Christians and Muslims must work together against intolerance and violence. He made clear he was responding to Muslim outrage over a speech he made earlier this month at the University of Regensburg in Germany.
• Reporter's Notebook: Superdome Re-Opens for New Football Season
  Thirteen months ago the Superdome was the central focus of the horrors brought by Hurricane Katrina, and it became symbolic of spectacular failure at all levels of government. Katrina ripped part of the roof off the Superdome, which was then filled with refugees. There was a shooting and a suicide, bodies stored in a refrigerator, and nobody allowed inside without a biohazard suit. Tonight, the New Orleans Saints will play their first home game of the year and--for the first time in team history--all the season tickets have been sold.