Middle East News: News and Headlines from Iraq, Iran, Israel, Lebanon & More - The Washington Post

Syria’s sectarian splits creep into Lebanon

Alice Fordham — Tue, 15 May 2012 20:15:00 EST

TRIPOLI, Lebanon — A small but increasingly vocal number of Lebanon’s Sunni Muslims are backing Islamist leaders’ calls for regime change in neighboring Syria and voicing their fierce discontent with their own government, a sign that the sectarianism splitting Syria may be deepening Lebanon’s longstanding divides.

Read full article >>

Palestinian prisoners end hunger strike following agreement with Israel

Karin Brulliard — Mon, 14 May 2012 15:30:00 EST

JERUSALEM – Israeli and Palestinian officials announced Monday that more than 1,600 Palestinian prisoners had agreed to end a nearly month-long hunger strike in exchange for concessions by Israel, including a modification to its practice of detention without charge or trial.

Read full article >>

Culture war looms as Israel pledges to end ultra-Orthodox military exemptions

Karin Brulliard — Fri, 11 May 2012 13:49:00 EST

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dramatically bolstered his ruling coalition this week with a unity deal meant to help him thwart challenges from fringe factions. But Yoel Krois, a man with sidelocks past his shoulders and a record of confronting authorities, says he remains ready for a fight.

Read full article >>

Featured Advertiser

Fri, 11 May 2012 13:49:00 EST

Bomb strikes U.N. convoy escort in Syria

Liz Sly — Wed, 9 May 2012 13:57:00 EST

BEIRUT — A bomb struck a Syrian military convoy escorting the head of a U.N. observer mission Wednesday, injuring several Syrian soldiers and illustrating the vulnerability of the unarmed and unprotected mission as it struggles to monitor a badly fraying cease-fire.

Read full article >>

Al-Qaeda bombmaker represents CIA’s worst fears

Sudarsan Raghavan, Peter Finn — Tue, 8 May 2012 21:08:00 EST

SANAA, Yemen — He has dispatched his own brother to death, hiding a bomb on him before he crossed into Saudi Arabia to target the kingdom’s chief counterterrorism official. He has tried to attack the United States three times in the past three years, building small, sophisticated and hard-to-detect devices in his workshop in the rugged terrain of southern Yemen.

Read full article >>

Iraq oil industry experiences new boom

Ben Van Heuvelen — Tue, 8 May 2012 20:51:00 EST

BAGHDAD — Over the past four decades, Iraq’s oil production has traced the path of a roller coaster, propelled upward by geysers of crude and dragged downward by the weight of war and sanctions. In the aftermath of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, Iraqi output has failed to achieve the heights it reached under Saddam Hussein — until now.

Read full article >>