Middle East

Researchers have some reassuring news for the legions of coffee drinkers who can't get through the day without a latte, cappuccino, iced mocha, double-shot of espresso or a plain old cuppa joe: That coffee habit may help you live longer. A new study that tracked the health and coffee consumption of more than 400,000 older adults for nearly 14 years found that java drinkers were less likely to die during the study than their counterparts who eschewed the brew. In fact, men and women who averaged four or five cups of coffee per day had the lowest risk of death, according to a report in Thursday's edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.

It is a bad outcome - but it is the least bad of the available options. When world powers meet with Iran on Wednesday in Baghdad, they may reach an interim nuclear deal. Its precise outline is unknown, but it reportedly includes Iran's agreement to cease weapons-grade uranium enrichment, ship its existing stockpile abroad for conversion into reactor fuel, and accept heightened inspections of its nuclear infrastructure. In exchange, Iran would be allowed to continue enrichment at low levels, and the punishing new American banking sanctions and European Union oil sanctions due on July 1 would be eased.

Gasoline prices are keeping up their record-setting ways. California drivers paid an average of $4.358 for a gallon of regular gasoline, up 6.6 cents from a week earlier, the Energy Department said Monday. That's a fresh record high for this time of year and is 48.4 cents above the year-earlier price. Nationally, the average rose 7.2 cents to $3.793, also a record for this week, according to Energy Department statistics. A year earlier, the average U.S. price was 27.3 cents lower.

Syria yearns for freedom from the brutality of the Assad regime. For four decades, thousands upon thousands paid the price for their opposition to Bashar Assad and his father, Hafez Assad. We have been intimidated, arrested, tortured and killed. Since the uprising began in 2011, opposition forces put the death toll at more than 10,000, with many more imprisoned. And all because we want a free, fair Syria. I am 81; I have dedicated my life to advancing democracy, constitutional principles and an independent judiciary in my country.

This month, several outstanding new books on the lives of women illuminate the daily challenge, joy and unfathomable outrage women and girls experience in these countries. Reading them all is a bit overwhelming — like looking into a crystal ball or at an aleph. If it is true that women are the heart and soul of a culture, their suffering indicates a sick one. There is a reason why books such as "The Diary of Anne Frank" or "Zlata's Diary " live on through generations and are used to show the imperative of transformation, the cruelty of certain regimes.

Patrick Tyler is a veteran foreign and Washington correspondent who more recently has applied his formidable reporting skills and narrative gifts to diplomatic history. His latest effort, "A World of Trouble: The White House and the Middle East -- From the Cold War to the War on Terror," couldn't be more timely.

The Middle East will undoubtedly continue to be unstable. Its legacy of colonialist exploitation, badly drawn borders, decades of power struggles, the scramble for oil and, since 1948, the Arab-Israeli conflict has ensured a rocky future. For every American president, the question is not whether but when and where the next Middle East crisis will erupt. As President Obama considers his options in the region, which president should he look to as a model for effective leadership in the Middle East?

The announcement of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's exit Friday was too much for Amr Nassef, an Egyptian who anchors the news on Al Manar TV, which is operated by Hezbollah in Lebanon. "Allahu akbar, the pharaoh is dead," Nassef said on the air, his voice rising with emotion. "Am I dreaming? I'm afraid to be dreaming. " Across the Middle East, the euphoria was contagious. Young men waved flags through the streets of Ramallah in the West Bank, spontaneous rallies broke out at the Egyptian Embassy in Jordan, and people across the region ripped through the contact lists on their cellphones to share an empowering sense of incredulity, followed by possibility, that accompanied the news.

BOOKS Hooman Majd and Reza Aslan Iranian American authors Hooman Majd and Reza Aslan, two leading thinkers on the Middle East, will engage in an open-ended discussion about the region's politics, culture and religion. Majd's new book, "The Ayatollahs' Democracy," examines Iran's disputed 2009 elections; Aslan's new "Tablet and Pen" is anthology of modern writing from the Middle East. Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. 7 p.m. Free. (310) 443-7000. http://www.

Pope Benedict XVI told about 20,000 followers in an open air Mass on Sunday that Christians in the Middle East are "deeply touched by difficulties and uncertainties" but that they must be strong in their faith to counter religious extremism. The pope's message on the final day of his pilgrimage to Jordan was for Christians to persevere as their populations decline in a Middle East that offers limited economic opportunity and is torn by violence and radicalism.

Sitting at dusk, leisurely nibbling on mezze, or small plates, between sips of wine or tea is a way of life in the Middle East. Mezze ease you into the meal in the most delightful way. And if you can enjoy them outdoors, even better. L.A. has the climate, and it also boasts a number of restaurants where you can feast on these marvelous little bites. Here are a few. Cleo Head with friends to chic Cleo for any of more than 30 mezze from executive chef Danny Elmaleh, all less than $10. Order them in flights, a mix of hot and cold.

JERUSALEM - The traditional Passover retelling of Exodus was barely underway in 2002 when Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer got a note with news of the latest in a string of Palestinian suicide attacks that had terrorized Israel for two years. He dashed to an emergency meeting of military commanders, all dressed in civilian clothes because they'd left their own Seder dinner tables upon hearing that 30 Israelis had been killed in the attack on the Park Hotel. After an all-night session, they made a decision that would change the face of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Ben-Eliezer persuaded Israel's Cabinet to reoccupy the entire West Bank, even though it meant brushing aside the 1993 Oslo agreements that gave Palestinians control over many cities and their own security force.

Restaurant sales may be recovering nicely in the U.S., but eateries are increasingly looking abroad, where diners are more accepting of innovations such as Pizza Hut's new cheeseburger-crusted pies in the Middle East. Think it's a joke? A fantasy food dreamed up by a teenage boy? Even the advertisement acknowledges how silly it all sounds. In the video, diners look on agog as a royal page brings in the monstrosity “masterpiece” - dubbed the “Crown Crust Pizza” - on a cushion.

Early this year, the Pentagon's strategic review signaled a shift in priorities for U.S. foreign policy, suggesting that more attention would be paid to the Asia-Pacific region. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke of this as a "pivot" toward Asia, signaling what for many analysts and ordinary Americans has been a long-overdue transition away from Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East in general. But there's a problem with that. The act of pivoting involves turning your back, and the United States should not turn its back on the Middle East.

EL HUJAYRAT, Egypt - The sheik walked through his courtyard to a room where sins are purged. When a man picks up a gun and fires it, Sheik Mohamed Abul Ismail is summoned to dispense justice, often before the grave is dug. Suspicious, with a temper as unpredictable as a water bug, he is a keeper of peace in a land prone to vendettas and a farming village accustomed to funeral processions trundling through the dust along wheat fields. He greeted an outsider the other day; men at the barbershop next door popped their heads out when they heard the word "journalist," a profession the sheik likens to droughts and crop-eating insects.

Real Madrid plans to open a $1 billion soccer-centric theme park on a United Arab Emirates man-made island in January 2015 that celebrates the history, triumphs and hubris of the richest football club in the world. PHOTOS: Real Madrid Resort Island in the Middle East The 100-acre Real Madrid Resort Island  will feature a roller coaster that extends out over the water, a SeaWorld-style dolphin show and a hologram soccer movie inside a climate-controlled theme park.

In 2002, at the height of the second Palestinian intifada, a new kind of illegal gambling sprang up in Israel: suicide-bombings roulette. The rules were simple: People placed bets on where the next attack in Israel would take place. If you got it right, you could make a killing. Naturally, Jerusalem gave the shortest odds. Betting on a bomb going off there seemed like a sure thing. Still, people ruined their lives getting this seemingly solid prediction wrong. Not as many as those whose lives were directly ruined by the bombings themselves, but there were still enough examples to teach us, yet again, that irrational rage is a tough thing to predict.

Classic modern melds with a touch of the Middle East in designer Mohamed Hadid's newest home in Beverly Hills, a dramatic homage to Egypt's past, filled with fire and water features. The entrance to the contemporary residence features a glass walkway over a pond that gives the illusion of walking on steppingstones to the mahogany front doors. Inside, the spacious rooms feature 14-foot ceilings, exotic woods and open fireplaces with sea glass-covered hearths. Gray-white Jerusalem limestone is used for the flooring and walls throughout.

Turkey's foreign policy has come full circle in the last year. Far from confronting Washington on a range of issues, Ankara is embracing its membership in NATO while working closely with Washington on Middle East issues, including Iran and coordinating Syria policy. What has changed? First and foremost, Ankara has come to appreciate a constant in the value of its foreign policy: Turkey is east if you view it from the perspective of the West, and west if you view it from the perspective of the East.

  Ayman and Rahma abu Hussein can't help but feel they are moving up in the world. The database engineer and his wife just bought their first home, and it's large enough for both of their children to have their own rooms. There's a Hyundai parked outside and a flat-panel TV hangs in the living room, one of many new appliances decking out the place. But the Abu Husseins are up to their ears in debt. Their upward mobility, like that of thousands of other Palestinians, came tied to something that was once rare in the West Bank: mortgages and consumer credit.