Earlier today, in “Mid-East Melee: Sectarian Showdown Looms As Bahrain Cuts Ties With Iran, UAE Recalls Ambassador,” we brought you the latest from the war-torn Mid-East where a worsening spat between Saudi Arabia and Iran threatens to plunge the region into chaos.

Even as increasingly more parts of the economy, especially those with exposure to manufacturing and industrial production, sink into the recessionary quicksand, one sector that was seen as immune from the malaise gripping US manufacturing and was outperforming the overall growth rate of the US economy, was housing, and specifically spending on private and public construction: a direct input into the GDP model.

Hezbollah in Lebanon has ambushed an Israeli patrol with a roadside bomb at its disputed border with Israel. The militant group has claimed retaliation for the death of one of their senior commanders, allegedly assassinated by Israel recently. The patrol supposedly included a senior Israeli officer that was targeted, according to the group. The Belfast Telegraph reports: Hezbollah said it set off a large explosive device as the patrol passed in the disputed Chebaa Farms area, destroying a vehicle and causing casualties among the soldiers inside.

Submitted by Ryan Opsal via OilPrice.com,

The South China Sea is continually paraded as a region rich in oil and gas deposits; however, no one really knows what’s there with any degree of accuracy. Furthermore, these possible deposits are shrouded in conflict that will not abate anytime soon, and will most likely worsen with an intensification of the security competition between China and the United States along with its regional allies, which is tightly related to these disputes.

The Taliban has claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack near Kabul airport in Afghanistan on Monday. A senior US official said the target was a convoy of American embassy guards, moving to a secure compound in Afghan capital. No one was killed, but 28 people were wounded. The country’s public health ministry says that at least 19 adults and 9 children were being treated in facilities around the city.