Held in protective custody since her acquittal after eight years on death row, Bibi leaves citing threats to her life. Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman acquitted of blasphemy by Pakistan’s Supreme Court last year in a case that has become emblematic of fair trial concerns in such cases, has been granted asylum in Canada, her […]

Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan forces released pictures they say are the ‘Portuguese’ pilot receiving medical treatment. Forces loyal to renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar have shot down a warplane belonging to the internationally-recognised Government of National Accords (GNA), Haftar’s forces said. Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) said in a statement on Tuesday it brought down […]

A year after US pullout from agreement, Iran says it is no longer committed to parts of the deal with world powers. Iran will resume high-level enrichment of uranium if world powers do not keep their promises under a 2015 nuclear agreement, President Hassan Rouhani said. In a speech broadcast on national television on Wednesday, Rouhani […]

Iran and Iraq have close ties through trade, culture and religion. But Iraq relies on US to combat the threat of ISIL. Iraq’s leaders are vowing to stand with Iran after the United States ramped up its rhetoric against what it calls the Iranian threat. Foreign Minister Mohamed Ali al-Hakim made the pledge following talks […]

FM Zarif says Iran seeks balanced relations with its Gulf Arab neighbours and proposes signing a non-aggression pact. Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says Tehran will defend itself against any military or economic aggression and calls on European states to do more to preserve a nuclear deal his country signed with them. Speaking in […]

Increased US presence in the region threatens international peace, Iran’s foreign minister says. A US move to send more troops to the Middle East after accusing Tehran of being behind attacks on tankers in the region is “extremely dangerous … [for] international peace”, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has been quoted as saying. “Increased […]

While official annexation would be seen as a dramatic escalation, many Palestinians feel the area is already annexed. Ramallah, occupied West Bank – While the international community and media created an uproar when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his intent to annex the West Bank in a bid to garner votes during last month’s […]

The arrest in Iran of an Instagram star who posted videos of herself dancing underscores the Islamic republic’s strict rules shunning so-called Western behaviour. Here, BBC World Service women’s affairs reporter Feranak Amidi describes what happened to her when she danced in Iran. I grew up in Iran in the 1980s, in a period of […]

Bomb attack kills at least two people and wounds 25 others inside mosque ahead of Friday prayers. Islamabad, Pakistan – At least two people have been killed and 25 wounded after an explosion at a mosque in the western Pakistani city of Quetta. The explosion took place inside a mosque ahead of Friday prayers, city police […]

Ghassan Salame says between ‘six and 10 countries are permanently interfering in Libya’s problem’. The United Nations’ envoy to Libya has bitterly denounced the conflict raging in the North African country, describing it as a “suicide” that was robbing its inhabitants of the land’s vast oil riches. The country has become “a textbook example of […]