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U.S. Assistant Secretary of State David Welch makes an unexpected visit to Lebanon for talks with Lebanon's government on a solution to the Israel-Hezbollah conflict. Meanwhile, Israel intensifies a ground offensive in southern Lebanon.

Fighting in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah continues unabated, with Israel destroying two major buildings in Beirut on Monday night. An offer by the Lebanese government to send 15,000 of its own troops into the country's south was termed "interesting" by Israel's prime minister.

In an op-ed in Sunday’s Los Angeles Times, former U.S. adviser Aaron David Miller argues that rather than giving birth to a new and better Middle East, the United States may help unleash an even messier and nastier one.

With Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at his side, President Bush tells reporters at his ranch near Crawford, Texas, that the U.S. will continue to press in the United Nations for a resolution of the Middle East conflict. Over the weekend the Lebanese rejected a draft resolution proposed by the U.S. and France.

The United States and France are facing strong opposition from Lebanon and Arab states over a proposed cease-fire resolution at the United Nations. Their fundamental objection: Lebanon's government wants Israeli troops out of Lebanon, and the resolution doesn't require that to happen right away. Arab foreign ministers are in Beirut to discuss the conflict.

While Secretary Rice and other diplomats pushed forward with their draft U.N. resolution for a cease-fire, fighting was particularly fierce on both sides of the border. Israeli bombs killed at least 19 people in Lebanon. And Hezbollah fired its deadliest barrage of rockets yet at Israeli targets, claiming 15 lives. NPR's Eric Westervelt joins us from northern Israel.

Amid intense fighting between Hezbollah and Israel, diplomatic efforts to end the conflict are in full force this weekend. The United States and France put forward a proposed U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an end to the fighting and for U.N. peacekeepers to patrol the Israeli-Lebanese border.

Fidel Castro's recent illness has again highlighted the animosity between Cuba and the United States. But the relationship between the two neighbors hasn't always been so bitter. Host Liane Hansen speaks to Daniel Erikson, the Director of Caribbean Programs at the Inter-American Dialogue, about the history and evolution of U.S. relations with Cuba.

The U.S. and France agree in principle to call for a halt to fighting between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas. The U.N. Security Council is now debating the document. The draft underlines Israel's right to self-defense.

Fidel Castro took power in Cuba in 1959, at the height of the Cold War and the peak of U.S. concern over communism. Follow Washington's policy toward Cuba through 10 U.S. presidencies.