Amir Ohana is the first openly gay Speaker of the Knesset; he lives with another man and they have adopted twins, and his election to the position has drawn sharp criticism from rabbis and ultra-Orthodox officials who refuse to shake his hand.

As pressure mounts on Hezbollah from both inside Lebanon and abroad, the group’s deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem made a striking overture to Riyadh, urging Saudi Arabia to turn the page and rally around a common enemy: the Israeli Occupation.

The Yemeni Maritime Security Partnership conference in Riyadh, which brought together representatives from 40 countries, sparked questions about the reasons behind the initiative, its timing, and what impact it might have on the ground.

The U.S. Department of State has appointed Joshua Harris as its new chargé d’affaires in Baghdad at a sensitive time, as Washington begins withdrawing troops from Iraq while pressing the Iraqi government to dismantle the Popular Mobilization Forces and curb Iran’s influence.

“Israel’s” attack on the Houthi government in Sana'a (not recognized) raised questions about how far it has managed to penetrate the group and how the killing of senior officials could shape the fight.