* Debate over Jewish prayer at Temple Mount heats up For decades, the religious Jews who bucked a rabbinic ban and visited a Muslim holy site in Jerusalem where the ancient Jewish temple once stood were seen by many as a fanatic fringe.
* Turkey leads the way for states suppressing media While the number of state-imprisoned journalists declined slightly in 2013 from the record number of the previous year, Turkey, Iran and China held steady.
* Iranian Official: We Planned to Destroy Israel A former Iranian government official confirmed last week that Israel was right to take seriously the Islamic Republic's threats.
* Iran Arming Hezbollah via Iraq to Avoid IAF Strikes A Kuwaiti newspaper has reported that Iran and Syria are planning to re-route arms supplies to Hezbollah via an Iraqi airport.
* Saudi Arabia warns it will act against West's policy in Middle East Saudi Arabia has warned it has been forced to go its own way in foreign policy.
* Merkel compared NSA to Stasi in heated encounter with Obama In an angry exchange with Barack Obama, Angela Merkel has compared the snooping practices of the US with those of the Stasi.
* Robots are the not-too-distant future of war The need for humans to participate in armed conflicts could soon be over.
* Iran Arming Hezbollah via Iraq to Avoid IAF Strikes A Kuwaiti newspaper has reported that Iran and Syria are planning to re-route arms supplies to Hezbollah via an Iraqi airport.
* Egyptian: Goal of Arab Spring to Wipe Out Christians Dr. Ashraf Ramelah, an Egyptian Christian activist and founder of Voice of the Copts, said in a recent interview with Arab media that the new constitution being discussed in Egypt is further evidence.
* Egypt orders deposed President Morsi to trial for conspiring with Hamas, Hezbollah Egypt's public prosecutor ordered former President Mohamed Morsi and 35 other Islamists to stand trial.