The 34th Arab League Summit opened on May 17 in Baghdad. This is an important event and symbolizes major changes in the region. The reports in Iraq note that the summit seeks to focus on many regional issues, including conflicts in Gaza, Sudan, Libya, Yemen, and Lebanon, as well as the challenges posed by the new government in Syria.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Regional leaders were to meet in Baghdad on Saturday at the annual summit of the Arab League, with the war in Gaza expected to once again loom large. In March, at an emergency summit in Cairo, Arab leaders endorsed a proposed plan for reconstruction of the Gaza Strip without displacing its roughly 2 million residents.