In a milestone moment for the country, women in Saudi Arabia participated in the country’s elections on Saturday, as both voters and candidates.

On Sunday, Pope Francis canonized two 19th-century nuns from what was then Palestine, the Associated Press reports. The canonization was attended by some 2,000 pilgrims from the region, as well as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Israel and Hamas agreed today to a three-day cease-fire plan proposed by Egypt to begin at 5 a.m. local time Tuesday. The agreement includes an invitation for delegations from Israel and Palestine to travel to Cairo to discuss a potential long-term peace deal.

At the end of an outdoor Mass on Sunday in the West Bank, Pope Francis invited the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian Authority to travel to the Vatican for a "peace initiative." It was the second day of his three-day trip to the Middle East.

MA'ALEH ADUMIM, WEST BANK – Scarlett Johansson's decision to part ways with international anti-poverty outfit Oxfam so she can keep her endorsement deal with Israeli fizz-maker SodaStream has intensified the global controversy over businesses that operate in the occupied Palestinian territories. But the Palestinian employees here basically have no idea who she is.

It was one of the first warm evenings of spring when my new neighbor Steve—leaning over his balcony and through the bougainvillea—suggested we should take the kids to Faraya, a ski town a few hours from what was starting to look like a war in Syria.

Two men riding a bicycle shot and killed Mohammad Amanullah, head of the Independent Election Commission in Kunduz, Afghanistan on Wednesday. Following the incident, Zabiullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the Taliban, sent out this tweet:

A day after Secretary of State John Kerry called last week's alleged chemical attack on Syrian civilians a "moral obscenity," Syrian foreign minister Walid al-Moallem challenged the U.S. to provide evidence of chemical warfare, and said the country will defend itself "using all means available" in the event of a U.S. strike.

Prompted by intercepted "chatter" of terrorist attacks by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, U.S. embassies across the Middle East and North Africa will be shut down through August 10—an extension of yesterday's previously announced closure and a global travel alert from the State Department.

After a push by Secretary of State John Kerry, Israel and Palestine have agreed to resume peace negotiations for the first time in three years.

A 6.3 magnitude earthquake in southwest Iran's Bushehr province has already killed 30 people and injured 800. Though the earthquake occurred 60 miles to the south of Iran's only nuclear power station, officials report that the nuclear plant has not been harmed and is working properly.

President Obama arrived in Israel today on his first state trip to the country and the first leg of his tour of the Middle East. He is expected to discuss the crisis in Syria and Iran's disputed nuclear program with the leaders of Israel. He also plans to go to the West Bank on Thursday to meet with Palestinian officials, but there are not many expectations for progress towards peace.

Algerian militants are claiming that as many as 34 hostages, including at least six foreigners, and 15 of their kidnappers were killed on Thursday in a helicopter attack undertaken by the Algerian military as the hostages were being moved to another location. A day earlier, 41 foreigners — including Norwegian, Japanese, British and American citizens — and more than 100 Algerians had been kidnapped at a natural gas complex in the southern part of the country. Sources in the British government describe the 34 figure as "high." According to the Algerian military, the operation is "ongoing."

Famous sex tape lady Kim Kardashian just wrapped up her trip to the Middle East. No, she wasn't there to educate herself on worldly matters or to solve any crises, Ms. K was there to open a couple branches of the L.A. chain Millions of Milkshakes. Some of her fans apparently paid up to $1,200 to attend her appearance at a mall.

While most have focused on the "47 percent" comments from Mitt Romney's leaked fundraiser video, the full footage released today includes some very blunt words about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"MUSLIM RAGE," screams Newsweek's new cover story about last week's violent anti-American protests. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the well-known anti-Islam activist, is here to tell "us" (The_West) how to "end it." And it's true, isn't it? All Muslims are constantly raging about everything. So to pay tribute to Ali's article — which describes the protesters as "the mainstream of contemporary Islam" — and the subtle, smart cover that accompanies it, we've collected 13 striking, powerful images of MUSLIM RAGE.

Hundreds of protesters managed to breach the outer security perimeter around the US embassy in Sana, Yemen for a brief period of time today before being repelled by guards.

American emo kids who think they have it rough should take note of this story out of Iraq: at least 14 young people have been stoned to death over the past three weeks, apparently for wearing "emo" clothes and haircuts.

Earlier today the Guardian published a story about livestreamers from the US who took a trip to Syria to capture the conflict that has many journalists perplexed. From the article:

Hamza Kashgari, a writer from Saudi Arabia, thought he was simply tweeting a few observations about his love and respect for the Prophet Muhammad. Instead, he might have been securing his own death sentence.