MIDEAST: A Price to Pay for Israeli Aid Restrictions

Israeli restrictions on the delivery of international aid to impoverished Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories are costing aid organisations nearly five million dollars annually, and European and U.S. tax payers are footing the bill.

Dam Project in Turkey Breeds Controversy

The tranquillity and mystery of this town on the banks of Tigris River will not last long. The millennia-old town will be nearly totally destroyed once the nearby Ilisu dam, built for energy and irrigation, is complete.

MIDEAST: Fishing Under Fire

In Gaza's main port, beyond the newly-built memorial to the Freedom Flotilla martyrs, Gaza's fishermen prepare to go out trawling at shallow depths in Palestinian waters. Other fishers stay on land to mend nets and fix boats damaged or destroyed by Israeli navy gunfire, shelling, water cannoning and even ramming. Such moves as the opening of Rafah have done nothing for Gaza's fishermen.

SYRIA: Outrage over Boy’s Alleged Torture Death

Video footage has emerged showing the body of a Syrian boy reportedly tortured to death after his arrest in April following a government crackdown on pro-democracy protests in the country.

EGYPT: Gaza Crossing Lets Trickle Through

Egypt's border with the Hamas-run Gaza Strip was reopened to Palestinian travellers Wednesday after a series of squabbles over operational procedures had temporarily brought cross-border traffic to a halt.

MIDEAST: Promised Crossing Denied

Many hoping to find free movement between Egypt and Gaza have found the border gates at the Rafah crossing closed. Egyptian officials closed the gates on Saturday, according to Palestinian officials.

MIDEAST: September Knocks on Israeli Gates

"September 2011 is knocking on our gates," says an Israeli army officer who, under strict operation procedures, would not reveal his name. He was alluding to the United Nations General Assembly annual meeting expected to resoundingly endorse the Palestinian drive for recognition of statehood.

MIDEAST: Palestinian Spring Brings Nothing New

It is a scene replayed weekly in Palestine. In Gaza, groups of chanting demonstrators walk towards the border with Israel, singing, chanting, dancing. Ayat el Masari, 20, walks with the masses. An English major at Gaza's Aqsa University, the young woman is among many women who regularly attend Palestinian protests.

MIDEAST: Settling Into Humiliation

For 61-year-old Abd al-Rahim Bisharat, life in the Bedouin community of al- Hadidiya in the northern Jordan Valley is anything but easy. "The problem is not only poverty, but the degree of how (the Israelis) treat us as humans, our rights as humans," Bisharat told IPS over the phone from his home, with the sound of roosters crowing in the background. "We have no transportation, no electricity, no water, no health, no education.

MIDEAST: Killer Butterfly Takes Wing

"Look, a swallowtail!" A 70-year old moustachioed man hops jubilantly between rocks and prickly flowers, chasing a butterfly. "And look here!" What looks like a dragonfly hovers around in a mechanical whirr of transparent wings.

MIDEAST: Worse by the Day in Jerusalem

As thousands of right-wing Israeli settlers descended on Jerusalem to celebrate the so-called unification of the city this week, Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem were confronted by extreme provocations and the stark reality that their city remains very much divided.

MIDEAST: Time Running Out for Two-State Solution

Time is of the essence if the implementation of a two-state solution to end the protracted Israeli-Palestinian conflict is to succeed. Changing demographics both within Israeli and Palestinian society could render this impossible, with a one-state solution the only feasible outcome.

Egypt Sounds Alarm on Economy

Egyptian officials are warning that the country, just emerging from a popular uprising that ousted the regime of former President Hosni Mubarak, could be facing a major economic crisis with lagging international aid and foreign investment.

EGYPT: Popular Opposition Mounts to Camp David Deal

Throughout ousted president Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule, the 1979 Camp David agreement served to keep the peace between historical foes Egypt and Israel. But since Mubarak's February departure, popular calls for the treaty's abrogation have grown louder.

Syria’s Opposition Dismisses Amnesty Gesture

Syrian opposition members have rejected an amnesty offer by President Bashar al-Assad as a token concession in order to contain a crisis that has called the legitimacy of the current leadership into question.

EGYPT: Revolution Brings Religious Freedom to Sinai

Abu Sumaia’a Al Suoarki is 29 years old and a Muslim, according to the personal identification card issued by the Egyptian government. These days, however, his religious belief is no longer just a detail on his ID card, but is something he openly practices every day.

OP-ED: Fears of Depleted Uranium Use in Libya

The pattern of deception to gain legitimacy for war in the eyes of the public by now is familiar. In the middle of March, Western powers led by the U.S., Britain and France initiated actions of war against Muammar Gaddafi’s government of Libya. The start of war was preceded by a publicity offensive in which the Libyan leader was depicted as a madman.

Media War Blurs Picture in Syria

Since pro-democracy protests began over two months ago, Syria has been engaged in a fierce media war - with journalists arrested and international press banned from entering the country. This has severely curtailed the flow of information out of the country.

MIDEAST: Undefeated, Freedom Flotillas Expand

A gleaming new memorial towers in the centre of Gaza City's battered port. Flanked by flags of various nations whose citizens have sailed to the Gaza Strip to highlight the all-out siege on Gaza, the memorial's inscription bears the names of the Turkish solidarity activists who died one year ago when Israeli commandoes firing machine guns air-dropped onto the Freedom Flotilla, killing nine and injuring over 50 of the civilians on board.

Arab Spring Wary of Economic Lifelines

Governments and international institutions that once bankrolled the authoritarian regimes of Tunisia’s Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali and Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak have begun floating aid packages to speed up the economic recovery and transition to democracy in these countries. Arab revolutionaries have reason to be wary.

Yemen Jets ‘Bomb Al-Qaeda-Held City’

At least 30 people have been killed by military jet fire in Yemen's southern city, Zinjibar, which is said to be controlled fighters linked to Al-Qaeda.