All Middle East
FocusEgyptians begin to take back their clunker classroomsEgypt's beleaguered educational system has long been run by Cairo, with poor results. Only Mongolia and Honduras rank lower among comparable economies. Egyptians now demand better.
As IAEA arrives in Tehran, Iran braces for full force of US sanctionsUS Treasury sanctions penalizing banks that facilitate financial transactions with Iran go into effect Feb 6. Billions of dollars worth of Iranian money could end up permanently out of Tehran's reach.
Memories of its own civil war dampen Lebanon's desire to help Syrian refugeesLebanese fears about another civil war are stymieing assistance for the 200,000 mostly Sunni Syrians who have fled to Lebanon. Their arrival could destabilize the country's fragile balance.
Israel removes Palestinian protest settlementPalestinians set up the Bab Al-Shams village two days ago in the sensitive E1 area, pointedly mirroring a tactic used by some Israeli settlers to establish facts on the ground.聽
For Saudi Arabia's foreign domestic workers, employers' word is virtually lawThe execution of Sri Lankan maid Rizana Nafeek, accused of strangling a baby she was caring for, highlights the lack of legal protections for foreign domestic workers in Saudi Arabia.
Critics of Likud's new vanguard say party has abandoned founder's idealsFormer Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin was an ardent nationalist 鈥� and a staunch defender of civil rights. Likud critics say today's party is discarding the liberal aspects of Begin's legacy.
Interest in Jordan's parliamentary elections goes up in smokeIn an attempt to placate voters angry about fuel price hikes, Jordan has lowered cigarette prices. But the two moves have overshadowed the key thing: voting in upcoming elections.
Hagel nomination: Israelis ask 'what's the big deal?'While American pro-Israel groups sound the alarm on President Obama's choice of Chuck Hagel for secretary of Defense, Israel itself seems much less concerned.
Turkey sees promise in pivoting northWith its attempts to join the EU stalled and its leadership role in the Middle East marred by Syria's conflict, Turkey is turning its attention to a less tumultuous border 鈥� the Black Sea.
Poll: Spike in Palestinian support for military operations against IsraelSpurred by the recent Gaza conflict, continued settlement expansion, and a stalled peace process, Palestinian support for a military operation against Israel has jumped 20 percentage points in a year.
Israel tells underweight models to gain weight or get off the runwayIn a bid to combat growing rates of eating disorders, Israel's 'photoshop law' bans unnaturally thin models from the catwalk and restricts ads that are digitally altered to make models look skinnier.
Amid bloodshed and chaos, Syrian wages a war for neutral reportingRami Jarrah, a Syrian anti-regime activist now living in Cairo, is launching Syria's first non-state-run news outlet to provide something he sees as sorely missing: objective reporting.
Egypt's opposition still hopeful, despite many defeatsEgypt's opposition has been notoriously disorganized and unable to rally its supporters. However, it may have finally been beaten badly enough to overcome its troubles.聽
FocusObama's pivot to Asia? Middle East will still demand attention in 2013.The popular unrest of the last two years has left the Middle East volatile as 2013 kicks off.
Syrian conflict threatens to fracture IraqSemi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan and the central Iraqi government are on a collision course as the Kurds increasingly side with the Syrian opposition and Baghdad stands by the Assad regime.聽
Tunisia seeks gold in former dictator's assetsTunisia has been aggressively pursuing the assets of former dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his associates, seizing bank accounts, luxury homes, and one-of-a-kind luxury cars.
Syrian moderates fear being edged out of uprisingSome of Syria's moderate opposition members worry they are losing a place in the fight against the regime as better-armed, more experienced hard-line groups proliferate.聽
Lebanese border means little in Syria's civil warWith Sunni villages sheltering Syrian rebel fighters and Shiite villages shipping Hezbollah fighters across the border, northern Lebanon is now just another frontline in Syria's war.
Aleppo's fledgling government reflects a society shaped by warRepresentation on Aleppo's Transitional Revolutionary Council will be determined partially by the number of each community's residents killed in the uprising and the level of destruction there.聽
In Hezbollah stronghold, Lebanese 海角大神s find respect, stabilityIn a 海角大神 home in a Shiite suburb of Beirut, images of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah share mantel and wall space with the Virgin Mary.聽
