Israel-Palestine peace process 'kidnapped by religious zealots'
The current violent conflict between Palestinians and Israelis makes one reminisce about better days — when Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres...
Plenty of diplomacy but slim hope for new Middle East peace push
Flare-ups in violence between Israel and the Palestinians have often accelerated peace efforts - the first intifada led into the Oslo accords of the...
Islamic State rakes in oil earnings of up to $50 million per month
The Islamic State rakes in up to $50 million a month from selling crude from oilfields under its control in Iraq and Syria, part...
After Assad audience, Russia eyes seizing diplomatic initiative on Syria
The Kremlin believes it has taught Washington an object lesson in how to take on Islamist militants in Syria. Basking in the afterglow of...
Israel quiet over "hotline" with Russia on Syria
It speaks volumes that Russia, rather than Israel, has been going public with details of a "hotline" and joint air exercises they have launched...
Egypt locks up lawyers in Islamist fight
As Egypt cracks down on its Islamist dissidents, many of the country's lawyers are finding themselves on the wrong side of the law as...
Should Palestinian territories be put under UN protection?
A number of activists, trade union and political figures as well as intellectuals, are calling for international protection of occupied Palestinian territories.
The group have...
Assad's trip to Moscow bolsters sense he may survive war
Russia's military intervention in Syria has deepened the sense that President Bashar Assad may survive the country's disastrous civil war, and his surprise visit...
Sectarian hate takes root as Yemen anti-Houthi forces push on Sanaa
Mohsen Saleh al-Muradi does not just want to drive the Shi'ite Houthi fighters out of Yemen's capital 130 km (80 miles) from his home...
Power failure in Iraq as militias outgun state
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi came to office a year ago promising to rebuild his country. But the Iraqi state has grown weaker as power...
