"The good times are over," a Doha-based diplomat told me glumly last week, as if foretelling the political earthquake about to hit Qatar. On March 5, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Bahrain announced in a joint statement that they were withdrawing their ambassadors...

 Israel said it intercepted a ship Wednesday carrying an Iranian shipment of advanced rockets bound for Palestinian militants, claiming it proved Tehran could not be trusted in international nuclear talks. The announcement came hours after Israel said it struck two Hezbollah...

Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday directly urged Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to recognize Israel as a Jewish state and to "abandon the fantasy" of flooding Israel with refugees. But his remarks sparked a furious reaction from the Palestinians who denounced his demand...

Egypt's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi declared Tuesday he cannot ignore demands that he run for president, in a looming election his supporters say he is certain to win. He emerged as Egypt's most popular leader after overthrowing Mubarak's successor, Islamist president Mohamed...