Despite Yemen’s ubiquity in recent headlines , there’s still a lot of confusing elements about the situation playing out in the country, especially when it comes to the Houthis. The rebels attempting to oust the internationally recognized government, led by Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, are most often described as Iran-backed Shiites. But this is not the whole picture. To start out: The Houthis are not really Shiites. At least not in the way you think. The group prescribes to a rare sect called Zaydism. And while Zaydists technically ...

Nearly a quarter million people (202,586 to be precise) have applied for a one-way ticket to Mars , with candidates from the Middle East making serious headway in the race to become a modern-day Martian! The flight won’t launch for another 11 years, but competition for those four first seats is fierce. (You have far better odds of being hit with lightning — estimated as a chance of one in 3,000 over your lifetime!) Mars One is the inspired (or insane?) global initiative to establish a permanent human settlement on ...

Every morning something magical happens inside the walls of a 19th century mosque in southwestern Iran. When the rays of the rising sun reach the building (tiled in seven colors!) and pass through its magnificent stained glass windows, the interior of Nasīr al-Mulk is transformed into a mesmerizing kaleidoscope. Stained glass windows are de rigeur in Christian churches and are frequently used in modern Jewish temples, but only appear in a handful of the world's mosques . According to photographer Ramin Rahmani Nejad Asil, they are standard in Iranian architecture ...

Sex is a universal interest, and porn a guilty pleasure . Those who search "sex" on Google are most often seeking access to something in the privacy of their own homes, something they would feel ashamed to access by other means. So we asked the question, as conflict has unraveled throughout the Middle East — during the Arab Spring, US invasions, government crackdowns — how has the interest in sex evolved? Online searches can stem from curiosity, unanswered questions, or even health concerns. But often those who google “sex” are ...