From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

War in the Middle East and terror in the air.

Hello again, I'm Mormon Alney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International.

A daily look at the issues. Americans care about most.

America's ambassador to the UN said a ceasefire resolution would come to a vote very soon, but Israel had

already decided to launch its expanded ground offensive in southern Lebanon. On to the point, has Israel

really lost patience, or is it trying to influence the diplomatic solution? We'll hear from Jerusalem,

Beirut, and the UN. Also today was the airline conspiracy al-Qaeda's so-called Big One,

designed as a follow-up to September 11th. We'll get the latest from Britain, look at the

Pakistani connection, and the state of Western intelligence. What about the political fallout in America's

election year? First, here's the news. Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica

and from the Public Radio International Program Fund, whose contributors include the Ford Foundation

and the John D. and Catherine T. McArthur

Foundation. Hello again, Mormon. I'll only back with To the Point. British officials are still

investigating the conspiracy to blow up airliners bound for the U.S. We'll get an update on who's

been arrested. What's the Pakistani connection? And what about the political fallout on this side

of the Atlantic? First, this news update, despite what appeared to be progress on a Security Council

ceasefire resolution, Israel has gone ahead and expanded the ground offensive in southern

Lebanon.

Joel Greenberg is reporting from Jerusalem for the Chicago Tribune.

Joel, thanks very much for being with us.

Good to be here.

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