The UN Security Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to extend its mandate for African Union troops to stay in Somalia. As reported by Reuters, the decision is backed with more stable financing, to help the nascent government fight off hardline Islamist rebels...

Following 17 years of on-again, off-again Syrian-Israeli negotiations, little has been achieved, and some say change is unlikely, Bassel Oudat reports from Damascus

Putting off urgent reforms in Yemen is reinvigorating the secessionists, warns Nasser Arrabyee

Asmaa El-Husseini reflects on the busy work of electoral coalitions and the broader issues of destiny

Nabil Fawwaz assesses the record of Algeria's would-be president-for-life

National dialogue remains stalled as accusations rise within Fatah itself against the Ramallah leadership, writes Khaled Amayreh in the West Bank

The right to return is not up for negotiation, reports Anayat Durrani from the Al-Awda conference

Lebanese election spending was regulated under a law passed last year. In Tripoli, nobody appears to have noticed, Lucy Fielder reports

While testament to famed Palestinian ingenuity, the sight of Gazans making houses out of mud is a visual condemnation of Israel's siege on the Strip, writes Saleh Al-Naami

Noam Chomsky speaks with Nermeen Al-Mufti about Gaza, capitalism and the responsibilities of the intellectual

Al-Maliki's bid for an end to "consensus rule" is sending shock waves around Iraq, writes Salah Hemeid