After Jordan, Emirates also furious with Netanyahu Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not only managed to get into a diplomatic row with Jordan, he also succeeded in angering the Emiratis. Israel
Iran operating new advanced centrifuges, nuclear watchdog finds According to an International Atomic Energy Agency report, Iran is now using IR-4 centrifuges to enrich uranium in violation of the nuclear accord. Iran
Lawsuit filed to close pro-Kurdish party after lawmaker stripped of parliamentary seat Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu, a pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party deputy known to focus on human rights abuses, was stripped of his parliament seat and a lawsuit was filed to close the party March 17. Turkey
Netanyahu courts Arab voters as 'Abu Yair' Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has adopted a new strategy for the Arab public: cynically rebranding himself as "Abu Yair." Israel
Turkey faces threat from returning jihadists Having lost the proxy war it waged against Syria, Turkey now faces a potential threat to its own peace and stability by Turkish jihadists returning from Syria. Iraq
Hamas readies for Israeli ground offensive with tunnels, traps Hamas has developed a sophisticated network of tunnels in the Gaza Strip in the event of an Israeli ground invasion. Near East
Push for Kurdish independence divides Iraqi Kurds Kurdistan Regional Government President Massoud Barzani's call for independence from Iraq has drawn criticism from Iraqi Kurdish politicians who fear a Kurdish state would become a Turkish vassal state. Iraq
Lebanon: The summer when everything went wrong Political, constitutional, livelihood and weather problems are happening simultaneously in Lebanon. Iraq
Women, children killed in Gaza as death toll rises Israeli strikes on Gaza have targeted residential homes, killing numerous women and children. Palestine
Gaza hospitals ill-equipped for Israeli onslaught Gaza’s hospitals are lacking essential medicines to deal with the anticipated spike in casualties from Israel’s airstrikes on Gaza. Palestine
Will Erdogan be Turkey’s next Ataturk? Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan seems to partly admire, and imitate, the methods Ataturk used to accumulate and consolidate power. Turkey
Liberman positions himself as Mr. Security By denouncing Prime Minister Netanyahu for not retaliating against the rockets fired from the Gaza Strip, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman positioned himself as a responsible political leader who is assertive about security. Israel
Palestinian press losing media war in current crisis Palestinian media has failed to articulate an alternative narrative to the crisis with Israel, often relying on Israeli sources to write reports, following the killing of three Israeli youths and a Palestinian teen. Palestine
Sistani signals opposition to renewing Maliki’s term Iraqi Shiite cleric Ali al-Sistani has drawn red lines about the candidates for the premiership and demanded that a government quickly be formed, before the scheduled date next month. Iraq
Netanyahu under pressure for a large military operation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces demands by his coalition partners for a strong reaction to the Gaza rocket fire, while the international community will surely refrain from backing him on a large-scale military operation. Palestine
Trade, security concerns bring Turkey, Israel closer Turkish-Israeli relations are still far from normalized, but developments in the region are converging the two countries' security and economic interests. Palestine
