Thousands of Lebanese demonstrators—most of them under the age of 30—marched through Beirut last week in an effort to separate religion from politics.

The push for secularism in a region mostly defined by religious identity and religious politics is seen as a mostly younger-generational idea; a campaign where groups were mobilized through social networking sites like Facebook.

Due to mounting evidence and a slew of bad publicity, Britain expelled an Israeli diplomat over the suspected use of a dozen fake British passports in the assassination of a leading Hamas official in Dubai.

The murder, which took place in a Dubai hotel in January, has been regarded as being carried out by Israeli government officials who wished to take out Mahmoud al-Mabhouth.

An embassy spokesperson refused to identify the diplomat, telling the Associated Press that they “can neither confirm nor deny” the expulsion.

The fighting, the stony silences, cold shoulders, and the constant berating. When a relationship is in the midst of a crisis, it can spell disaster for other aspects of your life, too.

If your relationship is in the dumps, it’s likely that it’s affecting your performance in other aspects of your life, as well. That’s why when things aren’t going well, taking a break is a great option to just recharge yourselves and focus on yourself.

So when do you know if you need to spend time apart? There’s no magic formula, but there are some warning signs that should be a red flag:

A government-led air strike in Yemen killed at least 30 suspected al-Qaeda militants, according to security officials within the country.

The air strike took place in the Shabwa province, a hard-to-get mountainous region east of Yemen’s capital, Sanaa.

A Swiss businessman defied the country’s recently imposed constitutional amendment banning minarets, by building his very own minaret atop his office.

Guillame Morand opposed the ban on the new construction of minarets in the country, which is an effort to curb militant Islam. Morand, the owner of a chain of shoe stores, vehemently countered the ban by building the minaret atop the chimney above his office.

A Russian-born German man was sentenced to life in prison last week for fatally stabbing a pregnant Egyptian woman in a courtroom last July.

The sentencing has been long-awaited since Alexander Wiens fatally stabbed the woman, who was a pharmacist, in the very same German courtroom where he was sentenced. Marwa al-Sherbini was described by family and friends as an upstanding citizen, and human rights activists and the Arab population worldwide decried the brutal murder of both her and her unborn child.

Nearly a month ago, a college student was getting ready to board his flight at Philadelphia International Airport, when he was asked to step aside, held in a questioning room for hours, handcuffed, and missed his flight for the day.

What exactly was it that made TSA suspicious of Nick George, the college senior from Pomona College in California? It certainly wasn’t his appearance. He’s got a clean-cut, California-surfer look that should have made it easy for him to breeze past the metal detectors and security.

During a historic presidential campaign season, President Obama promised all sorts of reform and improved relations; an overhaul of the countries health care system, education system improvements, and eased relations between the classes and races of society.

One of the biggest and ultimately, most elusive promises, has been to improve the United States’ image in the Middle East and creating better U.S.-Arab relations. While Obama should be commended for reaching out in many ways to the Arab world, the promise that one person could singularly heal generations of hate, ignorance, and fear is laughable.  Read more>>