Virginia is set to begin enforcing the region’s toughest drunken-driving penalty, one that will require thousands of first-time DUI offenders to install in their cars breathalyzers that can lock the ignition, whether they were highly intoxicated or slightly over the limit. Read full article > >

Excerpt from:
Is Va.’s ignition-interlock rule for first-time DUI offenders too tough?

BEIRUT — Turkey’s prime minister arrived in Iran on Thursday for talks dominated by the violence engulfing Syria, while U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon presented an Arab League summit in Baghdad with a U.N.-endorsed plan for ending the fighting and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton headed to the region for discussions focused on the crisis. Read full article > >

Read the original:
Syria crisis tops diplomatic agenda at Turkey-Iran meeting, Arab League summit, Clinton talks

A year into the uprising in Syria, senior U.S. intelligence officials described the nation’s president, Bashar al-Assad, on Friday as firmly in control and increasingly willing to unleash one of the region’s most potent militaries on badly overmatched opposition groups . Read full article > >

See the original post here:
Syria’s Bashar al-Assad firmly in control, U.S. intelligence officials say

BEIRUT — Growing indications that a deeply divided international community is either unable or unwilling to intervene to halt the violence in Syria are fueling an armed rebellion that risks plunging the country, and perhaps the region, into a wider war. Read full article > >

See the article here:
In Syria, world inaction fuels armed revolt

If 10 years hence there are American tourists on the streets of Tehran and Isfahan and peace reigns in the region, perhaps we will all look back at films such as Asghar Farhadi’s “A Separation” and think: That helped. Farhadi’s magnificent opus, nominally a look at divorce but more deeply a meditation on class, truth and honor, won best foreign language film at the Golden Globes on Sunday. Read full article > >

Read the original:
‘A Separation,’ Golden Globe-winning Iranian film, offers dose of normality

Nevermind that it’s a federal holiday. And nevermind that the vast majority of Washington area schoolchildren will be snoozing late, savoring their last day of winter break. On Monday morning, a few students are headed to class. Schools opened their doors Jan. 2 in Alexandria and Howard, St. Mary’s and Charles counties, while elsewhere in the region — and in eight of the nation’s 10 largest school systems — students are free to enjoy the nation’s official celebration of New Year’s Day. Read full article > >

Read the original post:
Some students, parents left asking: What holiday?

This article, written by Joyce Karam, appeared on The Majalla on December 19, 2011 How is the escalating conflict in Syria affecting Hezbollah’s position and standing inside Lebanon and in the region?

More here:
Hezbollah’s Winter

Events in Cairo and across the region in the past week seem as seminal as any since the burst of optimism when the revolts erupted 11 months ago.

See original here:
News Analysis: Arab World Struggles to Shape New Order

KAPOLEI, Hawaii — President Barack Obama says the U.S. will not be able to put people back to work and expand opportunity unless the Asia-Pacific region also is successful. The president called the region “absolutely critical” to America’s growth, and a top priority for his administration, as he welcomed leaders of the 21-economy Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum to a summit in his home state of Hawaii. Read full article > >

Read the original:
Obama seeks US jobs, aims to boost regional ties at Pacific Rim summit in Hawaiian home state

Mario Draghi will take the reins of the European Central Bank on Tuesday, moving into the crosswinds of the region’s financial storm.

See the rest here:
Mario Draghi, Into the Eye of Europe’s Financial Storm

Europe’s leaders agree to change the EU treaty if necessary to help resolve the eurozone’s debt crisis and stop the region sinking into recession.

Read more:
Europe mulls changes to EU treaty

The city’s subway was back to its usual self Monday, and other parts of the region’s mass transit network were returning.

Follow this link:
For Many Suburban Commuters, a Day Stuck at Home

Record rainfall across the region with more still to come.

Here is the original post:
City Room: Still More Rain for New York Area

As Yemen’s political landscape remains unstable, will the unrest pose a greater threat to the region’s and the UK’s security?

Read more:
VIDEO: Is Yemen’s security a risk to the UK?

Pro-Israel group Americans for a Safe Israel are pointing to a map depicting the region with borders redrawn along the 1967 lines as evidence that such a peace would constitute a threat to the safety of the nation. The map, drawn by New York attorney…

Read more here:
Pro-Israel Group Says ’67 Borders Pose Risk