U.S. Halts UNESCO Funding After Palestinian Vote

The administration of President Barack Obama announced Monday that it would immediately cut U.S. funding for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, just hours after UNESCO's governing board voted overwhelmingly to grant Palestine full membership.

MIDEAST: Virtually, There Are No Borders

Israeli entrepreneurs dream of a region without borders. Given their country's remoteness from its vicinity, that's a natural need. It's a dream also nurtured by their Palestinian counterparts, and a national necessity given their own encirclement by Israel. That's where high-tech comes into play...

LIBYA: After Gaddafi, Unease Rules

"The war is over and Gaddafi already buried. What else could we possibly ask for?" says Adnan Abdulrafiq at his busy street restaurant in Omar Mukhtar street in downtown Tripoli. But troubles may not have ended with the war.

TURKEY: Media Bares Its Anti-Kurdish Bias

Following the attacks by Kurdish rebels against the Turkish military last week, the Turkish press has openly struck a nationalist and militaristic tone.

MIDEAST: UNESCO Becomes a New Battleground

Palestine’s bid to become a member of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has created a tense atmosphere here, as the United States threatens to cut financing if the application is approved.

EGYPT: Mubarak Men Begin to Resurface

Members of the regime of ousted dictator Hosni Mubarak have demanded to be allowed to run in upcoming elections and warned of violence if legislation to prohibit their political ambitions is passed.

MIDEAST: Israel Evicting the Indigenous

As Israel moves ahead with a plan to forcibly displace tens of thousands of Palestinian Bedouins in the occupied West Bank, Mohammad Al-Korshan and his family are facing the real prospect of not only losing their home, but their traditional way of life.

LIBYA: Hatred Divides Libya After Gaddafi

The long-time dictator who ruled Libya for nearly four decades with an iron fist may be gone, but racial hatred surfaces increasingly now by the day.

EGYPT: Bumpy Ride to a New Human Rights City

The upheaval of the Arab Spring has provided fertile ground to plant the seed of a new framework for human rights that moves beyond monitoring violations. Rights advocates want to integrate human rights into the fabric of daily life and are working at the community level to establish the first Human Rights City in the Middle East.

U.S. Looks Increasingly Irrelevant as Mideast Peace Broker

While a growing number of influential voices here and in the region insist that the nearly 20-year, U.S.-sponsored "peace process" has reached its terminal phase, the administration of President Barack Obama remains committed to reviving direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).

U.S. May Have Concealed Deterrent Aim of Iranian Plan

Scepticism about the U.S. allegation of an Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador has focused on doubts that high-level Iranian officials would have used someone like used car salesman Monssor Arbabsiar to carry out the mission.

As 2012 Polls Loom, Caution’s the Word for Obama Foreign Policy

U.S. presidents seeking a second term are not known for taking risks in foreign policy in election years.

OP-ED: A Long and Winding Road to the End for Gaddafi

I came across an anti-Gaddafi demonstration for the first time in February 2011 in Baghdad's Tahrir square.

Doubts Shadow Egyptian Election

Egypt's interim government has begun accepting candidacy applications for parliamentary polls slated to begin Nov. 21. But as the country prepares for its first post-Mubarak elections, a number of political parties say they are considering boycotting the contest.

Finland to Host Conference for WMD-Free Middle East

After much delay, Finland has been chosen to host a 2012 conference to establish a zone free of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) in the Middle East. The meeting aims to bring together all Middle Eastern countries, some of which share a long history of disagreement, such as Iran and Israel.

World Bank Reveals Crippling Donor Dependency in West Bank, Gaza

The World Bank drew attention to the ongoing devastation wrought by one of the world's longest standing conflicts with the publication Monday of a report documenting high levels of donor dependency in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

MIDEAST: Freedom Is a Move to a Larger Prison

Rawda Odeh had mixed feelings when she heard the news that her son, 33- year-old Loai Mohammad Ahmed Odeh, was going to be released from prison as a result of the recently brokered prisoner exchange agreement between Israel and Hamas.

MIDEAST: Prisoners Deal Changes Rules of Conflict

Israel's prison authority has begun processing the first batch of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners to be swapped on Tuesday for the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who's been held in captivity by Hamas-affiliated groups for more than five years.

MIDEAST: Palestinian Refugees Consider a Model for Return

In a new project that has tackled one of the most divisive issues plaguing the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, a diverse group of academics, architects, urban planners and Palestinian and Israeli human rights groups are examining how the right of return of Palestinian refugees can be implemented on the ground.

Hamas and Israel Confirm Prisoner Swap

Scenes of celebration in the Gaza Strip and in Jerusalem have greeted the announcement of a landmark Palestinian-Israeli prisoner-swap deal.

MIDEAST: Prisoners on Hunger Strike Find New Support

Sitting in the shade of a small lemon tree in the German Colony area of Haifa, eight Palestinian activists are on hunger strike since Saturday in solidarity with Palestinian political prisoners who have been striking for nearly two weeks in protest against poor prison conditions and a lack of basic rights.