Arab television shows are once again caught in the middle of a tug-of-war between the desire to entertain and the desire to control, the desire to be amused and to observe religious traditions. Over the past few months, Arab countries banned several soap operas, dramas, serials and... More

Ideally, Ramadan is the month where Muslims should not only abstain from food, drink and sex from dawn to dusk, but also practice self-discipline, sacrifice, patience and sympathy for those less fortunate. Fasting in Ramadan is one of the five pillars (duties) of Islam and is believed to be the... More

Iraq marked the fifth anniversary of the United States-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein and plunged the nation of 26 million people into chaos and bloodshed. On March 20, 2003, U.S. warplanes dropped the first bombs on Baghdad to announce its “shock and awe” invasion that, within three... More

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and his sacked Prime Minister Ismail Haniya both cut their teeth in the politics of the armed struggle against Israel but a generation divides their approach to the Middle East conflict. The 71-year-old Abbas had already been involved in underground... More

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on Feb. 17, ending a long chapter in the bloody breakup of Yugoslavia. The proclamation was made by leaders of the breakaway province's 90 percent ethnic Albanian majority, including former guerrillas who fought for independence in a 1998-99 war which... More

On Jan. 20, Israel turned its prolonged blockade of Gaza into a full-scale lockdown, cutting fuel supplies to the territory's main power plant and petrol stations and stopping aid shipments, including food and humanitarian supplies. The move marked a new peak in the ongoing crisis in the... More

Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated by a suicide bomber on Dec. 27, 2007, plunging the nuclear-armed country into one of the worst crises in its 60-year... More

Some 3,000 Turkish PKK fighters are based in northern Iraq and launch attacks on security and civilian targets in Turkish territory. A few thousand PKK rebels are also believed to be inside Turkey. Clashes have resumed in recent years and this October, PKK separatists, operating from northern... More

Since the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in February 2005, the whole political system in Lebanon has almost come to a standstill. To add salt to injury, regional and international affiliations resulted in a dangerous process of polarization on the local... More