CNN.com - Middle East

Breaking records in Dubai

Fri, 24 May 2013 14:08:55 EDT

Guinness World Records head Talal Omar has moved to the Middle East to accommodate the growing demand of record breakers.

Iraq's fast food boom

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:18:32 EDT

The lack of big brands in Iraq is allowing local entrepreneurs to tap into the growing consumer market. Arwa Damon reports.

Persian carpets losing prestige

Mon, 13 May 2013 09:15:31 EDT

How can traditional Persian carpet makers compete with cheaper hi-tech machinery made carpets?

Lifting the veil on domestic violence

Mon, 13 May 2013 09:19:42 EDT

Last month, thousands of people in Saudi Arabia opened up their newspapers to find a full-page picture of a woman with a black eye clearly visible underneath her burqa.

Region's thriving art scene

Thu, 09 May 2013 05:18:49 EDT

The arts are thriving around the Arabian peninsula. From Doha to the smallest state of the United Arab Emirates, museums and galleries are making an ambitious mark on the Middle East's cultural landscape.

Saddam Hussein's sculptor

Fri, 03 May 2013 01:50:39 EDT

For the generation of Iraqi artists who came of age under Saddam Hussein's regime in the 1980s, one common subject was the dictator himself, often depicted holding a sword or riding an Arabian horse.

Was Gaza boy killed by Israel?

Wed, 22 May 2013 05:31:55 EDT

An Israeli report disputes video from 2000 showing the apparent death of a boy in Gaza that became a defining image of the second Intifada.

Wanted: British butlers in Mideast

Tue, 21 May 2013 06:35:56 EDT

In popular culture, butlers are usually portrayed as "Made in Britain" and tend to stately homes somewhere in the English countryside. The last few years has revealed a different reality, however. Increasingly, "Jeeves" and his ilk are as likely to be found managing a palace in Saudi Arabia as a manor in England.

Taking heart amid Syria's carnage

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:39:28 EDT

She never displayed the boundless energy of other children -- all she seemed to do was cry,

Saudi woman conquers Everest

Mon, 20 May 2013 10:17:10 EDT

A 27-year-old graphic designer has made history by becoming the first Saudi woman to conquer Mount Everest.

Rare interview with al-Assad

Mon, 20 May 2013 07:33:00 EDT

CNN's Nic Robertson says a rare interview with Bashar al-Assad shows the Syrian president hasn't changed his narrative.

Gaza hopeful's 'Arab Idol' spotlight

Fri, 17 May 2013 11:15:30 EDT

A college student from Gaza crosses to Egypt and jumps a wall to get to his audition for the Middle East's "Arab Idol." Fans are rallying behind Mohammed Assaf, one of the remaining candidates in the singing contest

Turkey: Obama's key to Syria?

Thu, 16 May 2013 11:51:00 EDT

Almost every American ally in the Middle East is desperately calling out for help, and we are ignoring them. Turkey, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain -- and behind closed doors, even Egypt -- want American involvement in Syria to stop the blood bath.

Impact of heart-eating video

Thu, 16 May 2013 15:23:33 EDT

The horrifying video of a Syrian rebel leader apparently eating the heart of a dead government soldier, which has been circulating this week on the internet, has caused a storm of instantaneous outrage and disgust on social media such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

When intervention is just politics

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:06:32 EDT

Fresh accusations that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons in the ongoing civil war have led many to renew calls for the world to take stronger actions to stop the growing humanitarian crisis.

Give peace talks a chance in Syria

Fri, 10 May 2013 10:31:15 EDT

Mona Yacoubian says the call the U.S. and Russia for talks on Syria offers the best chance for resolving conflict that has killed 70,000

Saudi Arabia's first female lawyer

Thu, 09 May 2013 08:28:14 EDT

As Arwa Al-Hujaili begins her legal career, she has not only her own expectations to live up to, but those of a generation: she has just become Saudi Arabia's first female lawyer.

Lebanon: 16 killed in clashes over Syria

Fri, 24 May 2013 14:07:40 EDT

Days of clashes between supporters and opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Lebanese city of Tripoli left 16 people dead and wounded more than 156.

'How I escaped the Taliban prison'

Fri, 24 May 2013 14:03:29 EDT

In his first television interview, photographer Pierre Borghi describes his kidnapping and escape from a Taliban prison.

Amanpour explains Iran election

Thu, 23 May 2013 05:56:29 EDT

Christiane Amanpour explains what's at stake in Iran's June presidential election.

Blundering into another war?

Thu, 23 May 2013 13:27:14 EDT

Barry Blechman has seen the U.S. involved in many wars, some of which have taken very bad turns. He says we must think long and hard before engaging militarily in Syria or Iran

Cartoons that scare Syria's leader

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:12:34 EDT

The masked henchmen grabbed three fingers on each of the Syrian political cartoonist's hands and pulled them back all the way -- so far that they cracked.

Report: dozens killed in key Syrian town of Qusayr

Sat, 25 May 2013 09:23:13 EDT

Shelling by Hezbollah fighters killed 24 people Saturday in the strategically important western Syrian town of Qusayr, an opposition group reported.

4 soldiers slain in Iraq

Thu, 23 May 2013 20:56:55 EDT

At least four soldiers were killed and five others were wounded Thursday when gunmen attacked an Iraqi army checkpoint, police said.

Ahmadinejad aide banned from election

Wed, 22 May 2013 23:06:39 EDT

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will challenge the disqualification of his top aide from next month's presidential election, Iran's state-run Press TV reported.

7 kidnapped soldiers freed in Egypt

Wed, 22 May 2013 04:38:24 EDT

Seven Egyptian soldiers who were kidnapped six days ago in the Sinai Peninsula have been freed, the spokesman for Egypt's armed forces said Wednesday.

Dozen slain in Baghdad brothel

Wed, 22 May 2013 10:17:23 EDT

Gunmen in Baghdad shot dead at least 12 people in a brothel Wednesday, authorities said.

Iraq shiites targeted in sectarian strife

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:16:19 EDT

A string of car bombings and shootings across Iraq left nearly 50 people dead Monday, authorities said, in what is the latest spate of violence in a country plagued with Sunni-Shiite tension.

Police: Bombings in northern Iraq; 14 dead

Tue, 21 May 2013 18:02:02 EDT

At least 14 people were killed and many more were wounded Tuesday in bombings across northern Iraq, police said.

New controversy over Gaza boy's death 13 years ago

Fri, 24 May 2013 08:00:01 EDT

As Jamal al-Durrah washes his son Mohammad's tombstone in a Gaza graveyard, he fears that the boy's spirit rests uneasy.