Archives for September, 2014

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (L) sits next to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as leaders gathered to deliver a joint statement on Middle East Peace talks in the East Room of the White House in Washington September 1, 2010. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR2HTF7

Bibi uses Gaza as wedge between Abbas, Hamas

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will accept Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' entry into Gaza, but only if the unity government is dissolved.

A Kurdish fighter keeps guard while overlooking positions of Islamic State militants near Mosul in northern Iraq August 19, 2014. Sunni Muslim fighters led by the Islamic State swept through much of northern and western Iraq in June, capturing the Sunni cities of Tikrit and Mosul as well as the Mosul dam, which controls water and power supplies to millions of people down the Tigris river valley. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS MILITARY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR4

Don't expect peshmerga to beat Islamic State

The Islamic State is a well-organized and mobile fighting force, while Iraqi Kurdish forces are not the battle-hardened veterans some have made them out to be.

Turkish students receive phone calls and write post cards to be sent to the prime ministers of EU countries to campaign for Turkey's EU bid, in Sabanci University in Istanbul, November 27, 2002. Hundreds of thousands of postcards expressing Turkish citizens' wishes for Turkey's EU membership were couriered to the respective countries' prime ministers in a one day campaign during the festival named "One Day for European Union" at the university campus. - RTXLODF

Turkey struggles to benefit from study abroad

The rise in the number of international students in Turkey has not yet translated into higher government revenues or cultural diversity.

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men lift a boy during the funeral of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the spiritual leader of the ultra-religious Shas political party, in Jerusalem October 7, 2013. More than half a million mourners turned out on Monday for the funeral of Yosef, an Iraqi-born sage who transformed an Israeli underclass of Sephardic Jews of Middle East heritage into a powerful political force. REUTERS/ Nir Elias (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION) - RTX1436M

Shas Party spirals downward with Deri at helm

Almost one year into the term of Aryeh Deri, it looks as if there is no way to stop the party’s gradual disintegration.

Israel's land grab endangers Abbas' peace plan

Israel’s largest land grab in 30 years on the heels of the Gaza war threatens to head off Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ presentation of a new peace plan.