(Reuters) - Fifteen men of Palestinian origin have been arrested on charges of running a multi-million-dollar cigarette smuggling ring in New York, and New York authorities who announced the arrests on Thursday said several of the suspects have ties to Hamas and other Islamist militant groups. Full story
RAMALLAH (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday he would begin talks with rival factions including Islamist Hamas to form a unity government, a crucial step towards healing years of damaging internal divisions. Full story
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Heavy clashes erupted for the first time in months in Syria's central city of Hama on Thursday as rebels tried to relieve pressure on comrades under attack from President Bashar al-Assad's forces elsewhere, activists said. Full story
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad quit on Saturday after months of tension with President Mahmoud Abbas, leaving the administration in disarray just as the United States tries to revive peace talks with Israel. Full story
GAZA (Reuters) - New rules from the Education Ministry of the Islamist Hamas movement ruling the Gaza Strip will bar men from teaching at girls' schools and mandate separate classes for boys and girls from the age of nine. Full story
Top Talkers: President Obama has touched down in the West Bank city of Ramallah, meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Meanwhile, militants are said to have fired four rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel. The Morning Joe panel -- including Mike Barnicle, the Council on Fore
Ambassador Dennis Ross, the point man on the peace process between the Israelis and Palestinians during both the George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations, joins guest host Joy Reid in a discussion over the United States’ role in negotiating peace in the Middle East and President Obama’s pos
After the “Friends of Hamas” blunder by Breitbard, Chris Hayes and his panel have a talk about the strengths and weaknesses of the conservative media.
MSNBC’s Chris Hayes joins Alex Wagner and the NOW panel to talk transparency, access, fake headlines, and why the fourth estate was in the news this week.
Sarcasm gone wrong hits Chuck Hagel in a negative way, and Karl Rove might have a new person to run in the GOP who won’t really help moderates.
Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren joins Morning Joe to discuss Israel's Iron Dome program, which intercepts rockets fired at Israel from Hezbollah and Hamas. Amb. Oren also discusses President Obama's upcoming trip to Israel and the latest in Syria and Iran.
A member of Hamas security forces stands guard in front of the closed gate of the Rafah crossing with Egypt, in the southern Gaza Strip May 17, 2013. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
Palestinian protesters hold a Hamas flag during a demonstration after Friday prayers on the compound that houses al-Aqsa mosque and is known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City May 10, 2013. Palestinians protested against confrontations which occurre
A member of Hamas security forces stands guard during a rally welcoming Egyptian Cleric and chairman of the International Union of Muslim Scholars Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi in Gaza City May 9, 2013. Al-Qaradawi arrived to Gaza Strip on Wednesday for a three-day visit with a delegation of Muslim scho
