On my first day of school in Iran we walked down a poorly-lit corridor. I was holding my mother’s hand and crying. She was crying too. On my head I had a black hood, known as a maghnaeh, covering my hair. I was six years old and terrified. This was nothing like my kindergarten in […]

Yemen, one of the Arab world’s poorest countries, has been devastated by a civil war. Here we explain what is fuelling the fighting, and who is involved. How did the war start? The conflict has its roots in the failure of a political transition supposed to bring stability to Yemen following an Arab Spring uprising […]

CAIRO — Egypt’s Parliament on Tuesday passed amendments to the Constitution that could allow President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to remain in power until 2030. The vote, which sends the amendments to a national referendum, was seen by critics as another step back to authoritarianism, eight years after a pro-democracy uprising ended Hosni Mubarak’s three-decade rule. […]

Egypt’s parliament has approved constitutional amendments that would allow President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi to stay in power until 2030. Mr Sisi is due to stand down in 2022, when his second four-year term ends. But the amendments, which must be put to a referendum within 30 days, would lengthen his current term to six years […]

TEHERAN (AFP) – The devastating floods that have swamped many parts of Iran since March have left two million people in need of humanitarian aid, the Red Crescent said on Monday (April 15). The International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) and Red Crescent Societies called the floods the “largest disaster to hit Iran in more […]

Turkey is experiencing a new influx of migrants, this time from Afghanistan instead of Syria. More than 20,000 Afghans have tried to illegally enter Turkey via Iran over the past three months, adding to the 150,000 already there. And now, Turkey has stepped up efforts to send them back home. Al Jazeera’s Sinem Koseoglu reports […]

Government forces accused of dropping poisonous chemicals on last rebel stronghold in Eastern Ghouta. A chemical attack in Douma, the last rebel-held stronghold near Syria’s capital, Damascus, has killed at least 70 people and affected hundreds, rescue workers have told Al Jazeera. The White Helmets, a group of rescuers operating in opposition-held areas in Syria, said on […]

An interfaith march held in Ramallah for victims killed by Israeli forces in Gaza was a peaceful display of prayer and protest. Orthodox Christians and Muslims in the Occupied West Bank have joined a march to remember those who were killed by Israeli forces in Gaza. Palestinian Orthodox Christians have limited their celebrations on Palm […]

Pashtun leader, who has led protests against state atrocities, says his demands are in line with the constitution. Members of the Pashtun community in Pakistan have staged a series of protests against extrajudicial arrests and killings of members of the ethnic minority by security forces. The killing of an aspiring model from the community – […]

The ban has been described as ‘a dangerous precedent’ and ‘a cowardly breach of the freedom of worship’. Israel on Friday prohibited the Azan, the Muslim call to prayer, at the Ibrahimi Mosque in the West Bank city of Hebron, also known as Al-Khalil, according to Palestinian Religious Endowments Minister Yousef Adais. In a press […]