ISRAEL

What are Iran's nuclear capabilities at present, and is a preemptive military strike necessary? A difference of opinion between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu show that major world powers are at odds over these pivotal issues.

The man suspected to be Sam Bacile, the director behind the anti-Islam film "Innocence of Muslims," Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, was taken in for questioning on Saturday by the L.A. police. Meanwhile, protests in Afghanistan and Jakarta turned violent, and Al-Qaeda called last week's bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens a "great event."

An armada of military hardware from 25 nations, including battleships, aircraft carriers, submarines and minesweepers has descended on the Persian Gulf as Western policy makers desperately try to convince Israel that diplomacy and sanctions designed to halt Iran?s nuclear program need more time to work.

Benjamin Netanyahu football talk on two Sunday talk shows was meant to draw a stark focus on Israel's threats to prevent a nuclear Iran at a time when the world has been fixed upon global anti-American Muslim protests. His main hope is the U.S. doesn't drop the ball.

The actors who appeared in the Islamophobic movie that set off violent protests across the Middle East have maintained that they thought they were making a simple adventure movie set in Biblical times. Some entertainment law experts say the actors might have grounds to sue the filmmaker who duped them.

The United States is working to shore up security at diplomatic sites abroad, as protests responding to an incendiary film, entitled "Innocence of Muslims," spread across the Middle East, an Obama spokesperson said on Friday.

Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), the No. 1 search engine, said it’s blocked access to the controversial “Innocence of Muslims”on YouTube in countries with large Muslim populations, including India, Libya and Egypt. But Afghanistan's government blocked all access to YouTube, claiming the video is offensive.

The U.S. Embassy in Cairo got snarky on the Muslim Brotherhood after the Egyptian political party tweeted a condolence message.

Rush Limbaugh has an interesting theory about the May 2011 killing of Obama bin Laden. On his radio show Wednesday, the conservative pundit stated that Al Qaeda may have allowed bin Laden to be killed in order to make Barack Obama look good.

Dr. Ephraim Asculai does not see a bombing by Israel or the U.S. as imminent, but that doesn't mean it won't happen. Hawks, however, may be disappointed by what an attack could really accomplish.

The U.S. and its allies have long sought to pressure Russia and China into backing such a statement against Iran, amidst fears that Israel would unilaterally attack Iran in a pre-emptive measure in lieu of finding a diplomatic solution to the crisis.

Is there really a Sam Bacile, and does his movie, "Innocence of Muslims," even exist? So far only scant details have emerged about a filmmaker whose low-budget movie sparked deadly in Egypt and Libya that left four Americans dead.

The death of US Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three members of his staff in Benghazi is a tragedy, and they join a long line of diplomats who died representing their nations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed impatience on Monday, saying that Israel has the right to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weaponry.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is claiming that Western nations are conspiring to throw Iran into a serious drought (and thereby threaten its agriculture) by deliberately destroying rain clouds headed toward the country.

Economic problems have drastically lowered standards of living across the Palestinian territories, and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad is facing heated criticism from the public. But, this weekend, President Mahmoud Abbas stepped up to defend Fayyad.

In a rare official complaint from a Vatican senior official in Jerusalem, Friar Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Custodian of the Holy Land, said in a Friday statement that Israel has failed to respond adequately to frequent discrimination against Christians.

John Kerry, the one-time presidential nominee of the Democratic Party back in 2004, took the stage at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) Thursday night to support President Barack Obama's candidacy for a second term. The senior senator from Massachusetts and the tenth most senior figure in the Senate had one of the best speeches of the night by most accounts. John Kerry Speech At DNC 2012 Rattles GOP, Romney-Ryan Ticket [VIDEO, FULL TRANSCRIPT]

Nepal was one the earliest Asian countries to establish diplomatic relations with Israel –

Canada has officially suspended all of its diplomatic relation with Iran, closing down its embassy in Iran and expelling all Iranian diplomats from Canada.

Honduras is implementing a bold new plan to establish independent "charter cities" that will operate under separate laws in a bid to draw more foreign investment. Proponents says the plan will create thousands of jobs and spur economic development in the rest of Honduras, while critics say they will only open the door for corporations and other governments to exploit cheap labor and neoliberal tax laws.