WASHINGTON, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- The end of the year traditionally is a good time for reflection. It is a time to take stock of what has been accomplished during the past 12 months and to look forward to what one hopes to achieve over the coming new year. In the case of the Arab world, it's been a dismal year, and the outlook for 2009, regretfully, hardly looks any better. Unless ...

BERLIN, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- German conductor Daniel Barenboim says his participation in the West-Eastern Divan represented his support for peace in the Middle East.

RENO, Nev., Aug. 11 (UPI) -- Black carbon from industrial development in North America between 1850 and 1950 contributed to warming in Greenland in the early 20th century, research shows.

TEL AVIV, Israel, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- Israel's education minister has branded Jewish conductor Daniel Barenboim "a real anti-Semite" for refusing an Army radio interview request.

WASHINGTON, July 10 (UPI) -- In a U.S. radio address Saturday, Sen. John Edward, said, "Nothing makes me prouder than to stand with John Kerry."

LONDON, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Britain's Prince Edward says he never has, and never will, donate blood despite the fact his wife's life was saved by a transfusion.

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Thursday he was saddened to hear of the death of Palestinian-American writer and scholar Edward Said.

NEW YORK, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- Edward Said, a professor of English and comparative religion at Colombia University died of cancer Thursday in New York. He was 67.

RABAT, Morocco, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- An orchestra made up of young Israeli and Arab musicians dubbed the "peace orchestra" played its first concert in Rabat, Morocco.