A roundup of links to local stories of global importance from around the world.

Link to information on Gaza, international aid to Gaza, and films about the region.

The divisions between the two main Palestinian political factions, Fatah and Hamas, are not religious - as nearly all Palestinian Muslims are from the Sunni branch of Islam - but rather ideological differences in objectives, governance, and relations with Israel.

The Gaza Strip is often described as the “world’s largest open-air prison” due to the virtual immobility of its population. The 1.4 million residents (three-quarters of them refugees and half under the age of 14) are surrounded by fences and walls to the north, east, and south, and have limited access to the Mediterranean Sea to the west.