Battered by a French-led military campaign in Mali, al-Qaida’s North African arm is trying something new to stay relevant: Twitter.

As Egypt’s economy crumbles and its democratic transition falters, some opponents of the country’s Islamist president are pinning their hopes on unlikely saviors: the powerful generals who have been mostly sidelined since last year’s elections.

In a cave here high in the desert mountains of eastern Egypt, the man said to be the father of monasticism took refuge from the temptations of the world some 17 centuries ago. At the foot of the mountain, the monks at the St. Anthony’s Monastery bearing his name continue the ascetic tradition.

A long-running battle over worship at the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest shrine , was rejoined Thursday as Israeli police arrested five Jewish women who wore prayer shawls at a morning service, contrary to Orthodox practice enforced at the site.

Al-Qaida’s branch in Iraq said it has merged with Syria’s extremist Jabhat al-Nusra, a move that shows the rising confidence of radicals within the Syrian rebel movement and is likely to trigger renewed fears among its international backers.

The leader of Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church on Tuesday blasted the country’s Islamist president over his handling of recent deadly sectarian violence, including an attack on the main cathedral in Cairo.

Here in the heartland of Libyan extremism, Islamist militia leaders solemnly portray themselves as peaceful guardians of security and stability. But ask them about Syria, and their eyes light up.

Pope Francis reached out in friendship to “so many Muslim brothers and sisters” during a Good Friday procession dedicated to the suffering of Christians from terrorism, war and religious fanaticism in the Middle East.

One night last December, national guardsmen burst into the hospital emergency room in this mountain town leading a young man, handcuffed and shot through the right buttock.

By choosing to deliver his landmark speech to Israel in an auditorium filled with students and young people, President Obama is once again turning to a core audience that has always been responsive to his message of hope and change.

During its decades as an underground Islamist movement, the Muslim Brotherhood has long preached that Islam required women to obey their husbands in all matters.

Abu Muhammad lies in his front room and tells a story depressingly familiar by Iraqi standards.

The brother of Al Qaeda leader Ayman Zawahiri is an unflinching man with a graying beard whose aim, as a Salafi, is to impose Islamic law on the divided country that has emerged since the overthrow of secular autocrat Hosni Mubarak two years ago.

When a swarm of locusts recently engulfed Muqattam, a posh suburb of Egypt’s capital that houses the Muslim Brotherhood’s headquarters, humorists lay in wait. “Official spokesman: locusts retreat following President Morsi’s promise to fulfil all their demands,” quipped a popular Facebook commentator, hinting that after eight months in power, Egypt’s Brotherhood-run government is itself something of a plague. Soon after, a different kind of swarm menaced the Islamist group’s offices in Cairo. Scores of youths chose the spot to perform a taunting rendition of the Harlem Shake, a pelvis-thrusting dance that has gone globally viral.

As Islamists gain ground in the fight against Syrian President Bashar Assad, the radical Nusra Front has emerged at the forefront, yet little is known about the group aside from its power and its affiliation with Al-Qaeda.

Faithful attending Sunday Mass on five continents for the first time since Pope Benedict XVI's retirement had different ideas about who should next lead the Roman Catholic Church, with people suggesting everything from a Latin American pope to one more like the conservative, Polish-born John Paul II.

Roman Catholic cardinals will soon gather beneath Michelangelo’s frescoes in the Sistine Chapel to elect a new pope to succeed Benedict XVI, who retired in February.

On a crisp winter morning in Jerusalem, a group of American Christian leaders with Bibles under their arms walk the hilltop where many believe King David first established the Jewish capital some 3,000 years ago.

Islamic bonds, or sukuk, have long been popular with investors in the Middle East. Now they are being discovered in Europe and the United States.

Egypt's main opposition coalition announced today it will boycott upcoming parliamentary elections, deepening the political crisis in Egypt and practically ensuring that Egypt's next legislative body will be dominated by Islamists.