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.

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>>