Recent happy talk about the prospects of an Arab-Israeli peace deal underplays the obstacles erected in the vacuum of US leadership over the last eight years - Gaza's incarceration, the Israeli security wall and the mushrooming of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, the radicalization of Israeli politics, and a divided Palestinian leadership.

An architect works to restore the grand palace of Raphael Farhi, one of the most powerful men in the Ottoman world.

The future of the most popular political opposition group in Egypt will be decided soon. The power transition between the current and the still unknown future leader will be crucial in defining the path the Muslim Brotherhood will adopt.