• Oman’s private sector plays pivotal role
• Two more people killed by MERS virus in Saudi
• Syria rebels pull out from Christian town
• Where is Unud Senussi? Libya special security forces know
• Algeria's Setif region fumes: Water shortages trigger protests
• Shiite man wanted over violent protests surrenders in Saudi Arabia
• Iran President tasks Foreign Minister with sensitive nuclear talks
• Energy-hungry Hamas strikes conciliatory tone with Egypt
• Russia piles up warships near Syrian coast
• Oman questions local newspaper about homosexuality article

• Mali's new PM begins task of forming post-war cabinet
• US plans to carry out ‘limited Syria strike’ with stand-off weapons
• Obama looks more isolated on Syria strike push
• US accuses Russia of holding UN Council ‘hostage’
• Rafsanjani faces wave of criticism for designating Assad attack as ‘chemical’
• Deal with main opposition party gets Morocco Islamists out of bottleneck
• Complex search for bombs in Baghdad: Car by car in all streets
• Obama-Putin recipe to smooth Syria tensions: Cosmetic smiles
• Egg case: Tunisia minister ‘pardons’ cameraman but not filmmaker
• Funding shortfalls force UN to cut refugee aid in Lebanon

Rami G. Khouri was recently privileged to gain some insights into such sentiments from a family in Alabama that enjoys special credibility in asking about the appropriateness of American military attacks in the Arab World.

President Obama’s limited war resolution against Syria cleared its initial congressional hurdle on a 10-7 vote in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but its overall chances got a bigger boost from an endorsement by the powerful Israel Lobby, as ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar explains.

Two weeks after an apparent chemical attack in Syria, the Obama administration continues to tout its “scrubbed and rescrubbed” intelligence as proving that the Syrian government is to blame. But not a single piece of verifiable evidence has been presented to the American people, notes Robert Parry.

Secretary of State John Kerry waxed eloquent about the need to punish national leaders who violate international law. He meant Syria’s Bashar al-Assad but his lecture could have applied to American officials who enabled the invasion of Iraq, including himself, just one of many US hypocrisies, as Lawrence Davidson notes.

Forgetting lessons from the Tonkin Gulf to the Iraq War, the US news media has mostly elbowed past doubts about whether the Syrian government launched the Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack and now is focused on the political drama of congressional approval for war, a big mistake says ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern.

By seeking congressional approval before bombing Syria, President Obama may have recognized a political reality – the danger from pressing ahead unilaterally on a risky mission – but the move also offers a valuable breather in the hasty rush to war, as ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar explains.

Economy Minister says government will have to revise its medium-term targets, hinting that outlook for growth could fall by up to one percentage point.

Symposium on Islamic civilisation sheds light on historical developments and cultural role of Oman.