Middle East

NPR -  Another deadly wave of exploding communication devices — this time walkie-talkies — struck Lebanon yesterday, leaving at least 20 dead and hundreds more wounded, according to Lebanese Health officials. The new explosions happened barely 24 hours after pagers exploded, killing 12 people and injuring almost 3,000. In some cases, the walkie-talkies blew up during funerals for people killed during the pager explosions. Israel hasn’t publicly taken responsibility for this week's attacks on Hezbollah, but a U.S. official tells NPR that Israel notified Washington it carried out Tuesday's attacks.

What is happening with the exploding communication devices is something that has never been seen before, NPR’s Greg Myre says. Many analysts say there is no military solution and there will have to be a political one. Hezbollah has been signaling for the past year that it doesn’t want a full-scale war. As it considers a counter-strike, there's a possibility Hezbollah could keep up the ongoing exchange of cross-border fire, but choose not to ramp up the fighting.