Alan Fisher
A bump in the road to peace

Monday 8 March
As the peace process in the Middle East appears to lurch into gear, moving forward slowly, there's already a bump in the road. Israel has given the go-ahead to build 112 new apartments in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank. The Israelis had promised a 10-month pause in settlement building in the West Bank, while excluding East Jerusalem. Asked to explain this latest move, Israeli officials say the construction was approved before the halt was ordered.
     The Palestinians are furious. The Americans aren't best pleased either. US special envoy George Mitchell is in the area trying to set up talks – a job which just got harder. And US vice-president Joe Biden has arrived in the region as well. If there are any significant breakthroughs it will confound all expectations. Both sides have such a low opinion of each other, the prospect of even getting talks started are very remote.
     Peace Now, an Israeli group, said the decision to go ahead with the building put into question Israel's commitment of reaching a deal with the Palestinians. All West Bank settlements, including East Jerusalem, are considered illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.

Tuesday 9 March
There's a friend of mine in Kabul who loves Fawlty Towers. He has watched every episode dozens of times. He repeats lines from the show and is a true fan. So it was perhaps no surprise to hear him sum up the latest developments in Afghanistan with the line 'Robert Gates, specialised subject, the bleedin' obvious'. The US defence secretary is in Afghanistan and warned that there are some 'hard fighting, very hard days ahead'. He has been in Helmand where he says that some progress has been made and has been hearing about the preparations to secure Kandahar province which is right next door. Six thousand extra troops have already arrived in the country. Another 24,000 are on their way.
     While the offensive in Marjah has been the biggest since the invasion in 2001, the operation in Kandahar will be much bigger and more significant. It is the birthplace of the Taliban, arguably where it exercises most influence. In Marjah, rebuilding projects are underway, repairing and improving infrastructure, bringing benefits to the local population who are deeply unhappy with military operations.

Wednesday 10 March
The world's most influential science academies are being asked to review the work of those who say that climate change is a real problem and has to be addressed urgently.
     The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-Moon, wants the work of the intergovernmental panel on climate change looked at because of the errors it made in its last major assessment of climate science back in 2007. Mr Ban says the idea that climate change was manmade was robust and that action was badly needed to curb carbon emissions. He has asked for the review because of what he called 'a few errors' in the 2007 report and that he believed there was a need to 'ensure full transparency, accuracy and objectivity'.
     The mistakes gave climate change deniers a chance to ridicule all the science, all the claims, all the steps taken to combat the rising temperatures. The review is expected to be complete by August.

Alan Fisher is an Al Jazeera correspondent