IRAQ: Sectarian Clashes Flare Up Again

A military operation said to target al-Qaeda has ended up targeting Sunni Muslims instead, creating new sectarian tensions.

ISRAEL: Mr. Security versus Mrs. Clean

Members of Kadima face a vexing choice ahead of the ruling party's leadership primary next month: Do they support Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz, who may have the best chance of cobbling together a new governing coalition, or do they back Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni because polls show that Kadima under her leadership would significantly outperform a Mofaz-led Kadima in a general election?

IRAQ: ‘Provincial Saddam’ Goes, Finally

The surprise removal of the Diyala police chief has brought new hope of a more secure future.

MIDEAST: Gaza and West Bank in Muddied Separation

Over a hundred Fatah fighters loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement fled to the West Bank from Gaza last week, fearing for their lives at the hands of Hamas, the Islamic movement which took over the Gaza Strip in June 2007 after it routed Fatah forces.

IRAQ: U.S. Blamed for Increasing Iranian Influence

Haider returned from Iran recently, with enough money to pay for his wedding and a new car. He was trained to join Badr, the armed wing of the Dawa Party of U.S.-backed Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

MIDEAST: Little Hope of Peace After Olmert

With Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's recent resignation announcement, the self-proclaimed Jewish state is headed for new leadership. Egyptian commentators, though, entertain few hopes that Olmert's successor - whoever he or she may be - will temper Israel's hard-line approach to the peace process.

MIDEAST: On HIV and AIDS, the Good News from Palestine

Palestinians from all ranks of society have pulled together to tackle the issue of AIDS, despite the increasing factional violence and chaos in the Palestinian territories.

IRAQ: Students Fail, Like So Much Else

Living from one crisis to another, without electricity or freedom to move under a collapse of security, massive numbers of Iraqi students are failing their exams.

IRAQ: Iran Gains From Power Cuts

The crisis over electricity failure grows as summer temperatures climb and a drought plagues Iraq. It is a crisis Iran is using to help Iraqis where the U.S. has failed.

LEBANON: Maronites Bring Home a Political Message

Bkerke towers atop the northern Lebanese city of Jounieh, a white mansion that serves as the refuge of the Maronite patriarch. The century-old construction seems to shine amid the shrubbery, contrasting against the pristine blue sky. Its story is as ancient as Lebanon's, and reflective of its diverse past.

MIDEAST: Israelis Getting Away With Violence

Only six percent of probes into offences allegedly committed by Israeli soldiers and settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank yield indictments, a new report says.

Q&A: 'Many Would Prefer To Die Than Endure This'

In the dungeons of Bishkek the summer temperatures are soaring. The air is thick and stagnant. Since the abolition of the death penalty, the threat of execution has been removed but inmates are living on the borderline of existence.

LEBANON: Cracks Widen Under the Patchwork

The assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri Feb. 14 2005 generated a popular outcry in Lebanon, which led to the massive protest in Martyrs' Square a month later on Mar. 14. The demonstration against Syrian occupation, which was accused in the killing, marked a turning point in Lebanese politics and the birth of the March 14 movement.

IRAQ: New Operation Gets Surprise Support

A massive military operation in Diyala province has underscored the military and political gains by the Sahwa militia, despite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's earlier attempts to thwart them. Maliki has now apparently come around to involving the Sahwa rather than opposing them.

IRAQ: Police Bombings Raise New Fears

A tense security situation in this volatile city has worsened after some policemen found bombs planted on the roofs of their houses.

ISRAEL: Exit Olmert, At Last

The announcement Wednesday evening by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that he will resign as soon as his ruling Kadima party has chosen a new leader in mid-September did not shock Israel's political establishment, but it did crystallise the political timetable: Israel will either have a new prime minister by early November or Israelis will be back at the polls for a general election in the first few months of next year.

MIDEAST: Arabs Despair of U.S. Even More

For decades, the U.S. has jealously guarded its role of sole arbiter of the Arab-Israeli dispute. In light of recent shows of support for Israel by U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama, however, many Arabs fear that Zionist influence on the U.S. body politic - across the political spectrum - has made the notion of 'U.S. even-handedness' a contradiction in terms.

MIDEAST: Israeli Transcends Borders With a Virtual Bridge

Israelis are barred from travelling to the West Bank and Palestinians from entering Israel without a permit, but that has not deterred Zvi Schreiber, an Israeli living in Jerusalem, from creating a high-tech start-up company that does all its programming in the West Bank town Ramallah and its business development and marketing in the Israeli town Modi'in.

MIDEAST: Israeli Transcends Borders With a Virtual Bridge

Israelis are barred from travelling to the West Bank and Palestinians from entering Israel without a permit, but that has not deterred Zvi Schreiber, an Israeli living in Jerusalem, from creating a high-tech start-up company that does all its programming in the West Bank town Ramallah and its business development and marketing in the Israeli town Modi'in.

Q&A: ‘Hamas Curbing Groups Firing Rockets’

Sharing a border with both Israel and the Gaza Strip, Egypt has historically played a major role in Israeli-Palestinian affairs. Egyptian involvement in the longstanding conflict has deepened since June of last year, when resistance group Hamas wrested control of the Gaza Strip - having won legislative elections a year earlier - from the U.S.-backed Fatah movement of Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas.

MIDEAST: Palestinian 'Che' Blindfolded and Shot

A Youtube video, uploaded on the Internet this week, showing a blindfolded and handcuffed Palestinian being fired on at close range by an Israeli soldier in the presence of a Lieutenant-Colonel, has made international and regional headlines.