Sebastian says among the number of issues in Israel at the moment is the controversial judicial overhaul and the intensifying conflict with Palestinians.
In Syria, there’ve been days of anti- government protests in the south of the country, Sebastian backgrounds what’s motivating them and assesses the threat they pose to President Bashar al-Assad.
And there's been a disturbing report about the hundreds of Ethiopian migrants killed in the past year at the Saudi Arabia border with Yemen.
Sebastian Usher is a BBC Middle East analyst, editor and reporter.