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PHOTO: Stray dog in Saqqara, Egypt, Matt Handy, flickr 
SPARE, the Society of Protecting Animal Rights in Egypt, protects animals that are often the targets of poison and killing campaigns to reduce their numbers. The site arranges adoptions of rescued pets, usually to Europeans who take the animals home with them.
Some of the animals are abused […]

PHOTO: Nof Zion, an Israeli settlement in East Jerusalem, Franz Elzenbaumer, flickr
Israeli President Ehud Olmert just gave the OK for 750 housing units to be built in the West Bank settlement of Givat Ze’ev.
Olmert has barred ministries from approving new settlements without his approval, but this expansion will not likely go over well with Palestinians. Settlements are a […]

PHOTO: Abu Ghraib torture stencil, Duncan C, flickr 
Abu Ghraib sticks out as one of the most shocking moments of the Iraq War. When pictures of the torture and humiliation that took place at the prison were released in 2004, the world was dumbfounded.
A new film by American filmmaker Errol Morris revisits the incident in a film he has […]

PHOTO: Hamas supporters, eremi, flickr
Hamas’ current control of Gaza made the Bush administration extremely unhappy. When the group wrenched power from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in a coup last year in the summer, sanctions were imposed on Gazans, supplies were stopped, funding from nations across the world stopped flowing in and the tiny territory was […]

PHOTO: Cairo at sunset, Selva Morales, flickr 
The issue of homosexuality in the Middle East is a very sensitive one. It is widely considered taboo and sinful, to say the least, and is therefore not discussed. A crackdown in Egypt on men suspected to have HIV and assumed to be homosexuals has forced people in the […]

Manaqeesh is a traditional breakfast food in the Middle East. They are bread pastries with zaatar, an oregano-like herb commonly used in the area. Here’s an easy way to make them that takes just 15 minutes. Bon appétit!’