Middle East/North Africa

A rocket containing chemical materials has reportedly been used in the Syrian conflict for the first time.

The legislation targets banks that do business with Syria.

A poll released just days after the 10th anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq war found that most Americans do not believe the conflict was worth fighting, and are likely to know someone who was killed or wounded in the fighting.

Fewer than a quarter of respondents to a YouGov/Huffington Post poll released Tuesday say the Iraq war was worth fighting, with 54 percent of those surveyed saying they do not believe the benefits outweighed the costs. An additional 22 percent said they were not yet sure whether the war was worth fighting.

Even more dramatic is the extent to which few Americans have personally experienced the toll of the war. Of respondents, nearly eight in 10 say that nobody in their immediate family served in combat in Iraq. Another 4 percent aren't sure, while 2 percent say they served personally, and 14 percent say someone in their immediate family fought in the conflict.

A decade later, the conflict casts a heavy shadow over potential U.S. military action in Syria and Iran.

President Obama embarks for Israel on Tuesday for the first foreign trip of his second term. 

Outgoing Senate Armed Services chief Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) broke ranks with the White House on Monday, suggesting the Pentagon should take a more aggressive role in the ongoing civil war in Syria. 

The top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs panel will introduce a bill to arm the Syrian rebels on Monday. 

President Obama on Saturday congratulated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the formation of Israel’s new government.

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Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) wants to award two former Navy SEALs who were killed during last year’s terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, the Congressional Gold Medal.

Hunter introduced legislation Thursday to grant the award, Congress’ highest civilian honor, to Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods, two of the four Americans who were killed in Benghazi.

“Doherty and Woods saved lives, at the cost of their own. They are American heroes,” Hunter said in a statement.

In Cairo in 2009, Obama encouraged religious tolerance and political engagement by youth, as he'll do in Israel next week.