Middle East, Israel Travel News

ABU DHABI // Washington's decision to dispatch an ambassador to Damascus after a four-year diplomatic absence marks a breakthrough in US-Syrian relations, according to Jeffrey Feltman, the acting assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs.

MIRACLE GIRL: Bahia Bakari is recovering after 13 hours spent clinging to the wreckage of a crashed Yemeni plane - the only known survivor.

The United States is to appoint a new ambassador to Syria after a gap of four years, the strongest sign yet of President Obama's desire to re-engage the pariah state and draw it away from the influence of Iran .

Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard has made a surprise visit to Baghdad at the end of her tour of the Middle East.

The Obama administration's decision to return an ambassador to Syria after a four-year absence reflects the president's desire to start making good on a pledge to broaden American diplomacy to include dialogue with adversaries.

The number of cases of the A virus, otherwise known as swine flu, is growing in the Middle East, with many new suspected and confirmed cases in the past few days, but so far no one has died of the disease.

Before they head to Fort Bliss, or Travel to Iraq, the 203rd military police battalion is being sent off in style.

The eminent historian of the Middle East picks his five favorite Western movies.

Benjamin Netanyahu's recent policy speech sets out two "small" conditions for Israeli recognition of a Palestinian state: "if we receive this guarantee regarding the demilitarization" of Palestine," and "if the Palestinians recognize Israel as the state of the Jewish people, then we will be ready in a future peace agreement to reach a solution ...

Iranian women resident in Turkey, support presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, during a protest against the Iranian presidential election results, near the Iranian embassy in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, June 16, 2009.

A cold war is "the key to understanding the Middle East in the 21st century." So argue Yigal Carmon and three of his colleagues at the Middle East Media and Research Institute in a recent study, An Escalating Regional Cold War.

Once again, America's uniquely qualified and experienced Middle East expert comes up with a contrarian point of view.

President Bush's War on Terror may be passA©, but the U.S. occupation and involvement in the Middle East is far from over and will probably last a long time.

A world wary of Iran's nuclear program reacted cautiously Saturday to hardline leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's hotly disputed re-election. Some expressed hope that the Islamic republic's president will soften his defiance and warm to recent U.S. overtures.

I was just scanning the list of 74 countries on WHO's update 46 and realized that some countries aren't on it, though you might expect them to be.

The United Nations special on-call mediation team has helped respond to sticky problems all over the globe in their first year - and should do more, according to a top official at the world body.

Real progress would be to reduce U.S. profile in the Middle East. June 4, 2009 - 7:56 PM There is probably no great harm in President Barack Obama traveling to Saudi Arabia and Egypt to try to show respect for Islam and to try to moderate the hostile feelings that all too many Muslims harbor toward the United States.

Foreign Minister Lieberman on Thursday strongly cautioned Belarus against developing relations with Iran.

Photograph: Michael Sohn/AP Barack Obama today signalled the start of a new push for peace in the Middle East following his speech in Cairo yesterday calling for a new beginning between the US and Muslim countries.

Egyptians watched President Barack Obama's Middle East speech on TV in a coffee shop in Cairo on Thursday.