Saudi Prince Turki: 'High Level of Disappointment' With US Over Syria In an interview with Al-Monitor, the former intelligence chief for Saudi Arabia says it's “up to the Iranians to show that their sweet and sensible talk is going to be translated into action.” Saudi Arabia
At 68, Has The UN Reached the Age of Wisdom? On the 68th anniversary of its founding, the UN is still the only body that can tackle today's complex international problems. Lebanon
Turkey’s Online 'Halal' Sex Shop Draws Ridicule, Criticism The Turkish media's response to the nation's first "halal" online sex shop has been a mixture of criticism and ridicule. Turkey
Knesset Opens with Populist Bills Going Nowhere Populist legislation, spotlighted by the news media, emerged from the right and left of the governing coalition after the Knesset winter session began, but no dramatic change should be expected. Israel
Turkey’s Spymaster: The Making of a Hero An impressive campaign by Hakan Fidan’s media team has made almost an entire nation worship him. Israel
Haniyeh Torn Between Honor And Gaza's Survival With the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas has found itself isolated and dependent on Israel for Gaza's daily survival. Palestine
Malta Sinking Highlights Palestinian Resentment Toward Leadership Following the death of dozens of Palestinian refugees after a boat headed for Europe sank off the Malta coast, popular discontent toward the inefficiency of Palestinian leaders’ efforts to protect their people has surfaced. Palestine
Israel's Next Best Thing? It's Bibi Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains the only stable factor in the Middle East, with no potential successor jeopardizing his leadership. Israel
Palestinians Protest Israeli Gentrification In Acre Palestinian residents of Acre have protested against the Israeli government’s decision to sell an old khan to investors. Israel
Egypt’s New Protest Law Sparks Controversy The law is worse than anticipated and probably unconstitutional. Egypt
Tunnel May Signal Shift In Hamas-Israel Conflict The tunnel recently discovered between Gaza and Israel may have been designed for kidnapping Israeli soldiers or for military operations in Israel. Palestine
Iraq's Rare Animals Threatened by Violence A general lack of awareness has led to increasing cases of local Iraqi populations randomly killing rare animals they encounter. Iraq
Iraqi Shiites join Syria war Many Iraqi Shiites are joining the fight in Syria, by first receiving weapons training in Iran and then traveling to Lebanon, from where they are taken to Damascus by Hezbollah. Iraq
Saudi Decision on Security Council Is About Syria Saudi Arabia’s decision to decline a Security Council seat expresses anger in some Sunni Muslim quarters about the Syria war. Saudi Arabia
Iraqi Government Cannot Stop Terrorists Amid mounting questions on the efficiency of Iraq’s security apparatus, the Interior Ministry proves unable to provide even rough statistics on the daily bombings that afflict the country. Iraq
Turkey Rescues Its Pilots in Swap Deal Turkey’s silent diplomacy yielded results on Oct.19, when it rescued the two Turkish Airlines pilots kidnapped in Beirut on Aug. 9. Lebanon
