BY DIAA HADID

13 - 1:16am

BETHLEHEM, West Bank — The nuns of “Le Creche,” the only orphanage in Bethlehem, have raised generations of children in this biblical town. But only four aging nuns remain, down from a dozen 30 years ago, and the Roman Catholic Church is struggling to replace them. In the meantime, they have hired a professional staff to do jobs once solely performed by nuns.

U.N. team sees massacre site in Syrian village 06/09/12 - 12:18am

BEIRUT — U.N. observers could smell the stench of burned corpses Friday and saw body parts scattered around a Syrian farming hamlet that was the site of a massacre this week in which nearly 80 men, women and children were reported slain. The scene held evidence of a “horrific crime,” a U.N. spokeswoman said. The observers were finally able to get inside the deserted village of Mazraat al-Qubair after being blocked by government troops and residents, and coming under small arms fire Thursday, a day after the slayings were first reported.

Thousands celebrate freed Palestinian prisoners 10/19/11 - 12:10am

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Tens of thousands of flag-waving Palestinians celebrated the homecoming Tuesday of hundreds of prisoners exchanged for an Israeli soldier, with the crowd and a freed Hamas leader exhorting militants to seize more soldiers for future swaps. Hamas, which had negotiated the release, turned the celebration into a show of strength for the Islamic militant movement, which had seized Gaza from its moderate rival, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in 2007.

Israel, Egypt try to stem damage from embassy riot 09/11/11 - 12:25am

CAIRO — Israel and Egypt’s leadership tried Saturday to limit the damage in ties after protesters stormed Israel’s embassy in Cairo, trashing offices and prompting the evacuation of nearly the entire staff from Egypt in the worst crisis between the countries since their 1979 peace treaty. The 13-hour rampage deepened Israel’s fears that it is growing increasingly isolated amid the Arab world’s uprisings and, in particular, that Egypt is turning steadily against it after the fall of Hosni Mubarak, the authoritarian leader who was a close ally.