All Middle East
- Amid bombings, Iraqi family celebrates a wedding and good grades
The Methboub family, which the Monitor has followed for a decade, has reasons for hope after dark days during which a son was wrongly imprisoned and a daughter's marriage collapsed.
- US eager to send foreign aid to Yemen, a land battling poverty and Al Qaeda
The West sees foreign aid as a way to help counter extremism and issues like child malnutrition, but Yemenis caution against too much, too soon – and point to Afghanistan.
- Syria thumbs its nose at the UN
Despite a UN statement yesterday calling for an end to the violence, which was backed even by Syria ally Russia, 82 people were killed yesterday in clashes around the country.
- Egypt's Coptic pope: How he negotiated waves of sectarianism
When Pope Shenouda III became pope in 1971, sectarianism was on the rise. Banished briefly by Sadat, he later worked to promote better ties with the Mubarak regime to help Christians.
- US teacher killing: How religiously open is Yemen?
Al Qaeda-linked militants say they killed Joel Shrum for proselytizing. The country has seen other attacks on Christians, but also has Catholic sisters working openly.
- Fierce fighting in Damascus signals rebels remain unbowed
Today's fighting in Damascus and three weekend car bombings suggest a protracted fight between rebels and the Syrian Army, despite recent tactical gains by the regime.
- After Qaddafi, Libya's east tires of Tripoli too
Oil-rich eastern Libya is looking for greater autonomy after playing a major role in deposing Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi.
- Egypt's Coptic Christians mourn pope, mull more activist future
Pope Shenouda III, the leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church, died Saturday. His successor will help shape the role Christians will play in the new Egypt.
- Syria crisis causes Iran-led 'axis of resistance' to fray
The Syria crisis is complicated by the regional cold war that has simmered for years between resistance powers like Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah, and Western allies in the region such as Saudi Arabia.
- Why Syria's Assad could hang on for a decade or more
Despite defiant talk from fighters vowing to oust him, Syria's Assad is in a much stronger position than was Libya's Qaddafi.
- Army rule: Egyptian military doctor acquitted for 'virginity tests'
The decision by a military court today disappointed rights groups who saw the case as a chance to curtail the Egyptian military's culture of impunity.
- Palestinian solar power: why Israel may turn out the lights
As peace negotiations remain stalled, a project to bring rural electrification to Palestinian communities in the West Bank faces demolition by Israel.
- Gaza militant assassinated by Israel, sparking fears of wider violence
Israeli confirmed its targeted assassination of Zuhair al-Qaissi was the chief of the Popular Resistance Committees, a pro-Hamas militant group that has threatened retaliation.
- Majority of Israelis oppose a unilateral strike on Iran nuclear program
Two polls that came out this week show that as many as two-thirds of Israelis oppose a strike on Iran nuclear sites even without US support – a step the prime minister has threatened.