As Egypt holds its first free presidential election, the future of its already fragile 33-year peace treaty with Israel again emerges as a hot topic of international foreign policy concerns. Among the issues central to the treaty is the future of the poverty-stricken and politically unstable Sinai Peninsula – a swath of land that More »

Abu Orouba introduced himself to us as a media liaison for the opposition Local Coordination Committees (LCC) of Syria. Purportedly stationed in Houla, he said he witnessed first-hand last week’s massacre in which Syrian forces are reported to have killed over 100 civilians, many of them women and children. Orouba spoke to Middle East More »

The United States is expelling Syria’s most senior envoy in Washington over what it says is the Syrian government’s responsibility for last week’s massacre in the village of Houla.  U.N. observers confirm the deaths of more than 90 people in Houla, including several families who appear to have been executed in their homes. State Department More »

International peace envoy Kofi Annan has met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus to urge compliance with a cease-fire torn by clashes between government troops and rebels. A U.N. spokeswoman said Annan would raised two main issues in Tuesday’s meeting: his six-point peace plan for Syria and the killings of at least 108 civilians More »

Mohamed Ibrahim el-Sayyed, 42, lost a lot to Egypt’s revolution – his brother was killed during the initial 18-day uprising that led to former president Hosni Mubarak’s ouster, and his son was killed in one of the many bouts of clashes between protesters and police that have marked the post-Mubarak transitional period. So when More »

The final results of the Egyptian presidential elections are in– the final run-off election in June will pit Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood against Ahmed Shafiq, former prime minister who represents the old guard of the Mubarak regime. Morsi received around 25% of the votes, closely followed by Shafiq, 24%. Other main candidates include More »

Despite some reports of irregularities, Egypt’s historic elections were deemed remarkably clean. Observers say that virtually all of the candidates did violate  election rules by transporting voters to the polls, giving speeches during the official period of silence, handing out sugar and cooking oil, or leaving campaign posters up by voting booths. But there were More »

Egypt’s presidential race appeared headed on Friday to a decisive and polarizing runoff between the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate and another with strong ties to former President Hosni Mubarak’s regime. Preliminary counts from Egypt’s first free presidential race show the Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi in the lead and former prime minister and secularist Ahmed Shafiq a More »

A team of U.N. observers has arrived in the Syrian town of Houla, where activists say intense government shelling has killed at least 90 people since Friday, including 25 children. The attacks could further strain a fragile six-week-old cease-fire between government and opposition forces. The observers arrived in the region Saturday. Earlier, the Syrian Observatory for More »

Elections are serious business, no matter where they take place. But everywhere, it seems, people make room for a little humor no matter how solemn the occasion. This week’s first round of presidential elections in Egypt was no exception. Here’s a small sampling of tweets highlighting the human side of the poll. View the story More »

As election officials count the vote from Egypt’s historic presidential election, the Muslim Brotherhood is claiming its candidate is in the lead. But Mohamed Morsi appears to be just one of several candidates who are doing well in a race that is headed to a run-off. Preliminary results indicate Muslim Brotherhood contender, Mohamed Morsi, More »

Egypt began its first full day of vote-counting Friday after millions of citizens cast ballots in a presidential election that marks the first time they have been able to freely choose a leader. Election officials will announce the final results from the two-day election on Tuesday, but Egyptian newspapers say preliminary results trickling in from More »

Every Friday since late 2010, small groups of protesters have been gathering across Jordan to air complaints about basic things like rising prices and high unemployment in the kingdom.  Fearing a full-scale uprising similar to the one that has gripped neighboring Syria, King Abdullah II early on began promising fundamental reforms.  But the protests More »

Mousab Alhamadee introduced himself to us as a media liaison for the opposition Local Coordination Committees (LCC) of Syria. A former translator who  joined the revolution, he says he is now attached to the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in an undisclosed location outside of Hama.  The Syrian government restricts international reporters from entering the country. More »

KAFR KANDIL, Egypt – Official results from Egypt’s historic presidential election are not expected until next week, but early speculation after the first two-day round is showing a race too close to call. The rural vote appears as divided as it is elsewhere. ​​As Egyptians await the results of their first truly open presidential election, More »

NORTHERN JORDAN – As violence has intensified in Syria, smuggling has become one of its biggest by-products. A recent trip to northern Jordan near the Syrian border showed how activists, despite the dangers, are bringing in food and medicine to their famished and injured compatriots inside Syria.  Overlooking Syria’s southern border from Jordan, Ahmed Al-Masri More »

A United Nations panel says both the Syrian government and armed rebels have committed serious human rights violations since March of this year, as violence continues despite a shaky ceasefire. In a report released Thursday, the Independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria said the army and security forces were responsible for most of the rights More »

As Egyptians wrapped up two days of voting in a historic presidential election, early indicators showed the Muslim Brotherhood’s Islamist candidate taking the lead among the five presumed front-runners. A spokesman for the Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi said Thursday the candidate was ahead in nationwide exit polls conducted by the organization’s campaign workers. All five front-runners More »

Fifty million Egyptians are eligible to vote in the country's first contested, democratic election since a military coup ousted the king more than 60 years ago. The two-day vote is a test of the reforms promised since the resignation of longtime President Hosni Mubarak. More »