CAIRO -- It was supposed to be a feel-good story of two cultures coming together in a comedic fashion. Instead, "The Bands Visit" is not getting talked about for rightly being an award winning movie, but because it is an Israeli film. And theres not much feel-good spirit going around.

Does Iran want to be on a collision course with the United States? It is becoming increasingly hard to avoid that conclusion.

AMMAN -- The Iraqi government has, for the first time since the occupation of Iraq in 2003, publicly admitted it wants a U.S. withdrawal timetable and is seeking such a commitment in a pact it is negotiating with Washington over the future status of American troops in the country.

A new chapter in interfaith relations will be written next week when, at the behest of the Saudi king, Muslim, Christian and Jewish clerics will be joined by representatives of Eastern faiths in an attempt to break down the psychological barriers that sprung up after the 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.

JERUSALEM -- Both Israel and the United States appear to be on the same page in regard to a pending attack on Iran, as they worry about the Islamic republics ability to build a nuclear arsenal with the Jewish state as a possible target.

AMMAN -- Speculation is growing that Syria is ready to distance itself from Iran and come to the Western fold if the United States and its allies ultimately reward Damascus with political, financial and military support.

In about six months the next president of the United States, either the Democratic Partys Barack Obama or the Republican John McCain, will have to come to grips with the war in Iraq. For the moment both men are off mark: McCain says U.S. forces should stay for as long as it takes – an unrealistic stance given the way events are going in Iraq; while Obama advocates a quick withdrawal – an unrealistic position as well.

The international community had shunned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad completely since 2005 when he was forced to "officially" remove his troops from occupied Lebanon. But he is not a pariah anymore. He has now become a hot ticket courted from Jerusalem to Ankara and Paris, to name a few. How did Assad realize this tour de force?

CAIRO -- Five months after a global media frenzy was sparked by the appointment in Egypt of the Islamic worlds first female Islamic notary, 32-year-old Amal Soliman, now out of the international spotlight, sits patiently at home, still waiting to begin her first day at work, while her male peers are fighting to force the mother of three out of the job.