Egypt is investigating a video which appears to show a Danish couple scaling the Great Pyramid and posing naked. The alleged incident has sparked outrage in the conservative Muslim country. Prosecutors will explore whether the video is real, and if so how they were able to climb the 140m (460ft) tall structure, state-run newspaper Al-Ahram […]

The Catholic church beatified 19 clergy men and women killed in Algeria during the country’s 1990s civil war. The Catholic Church has beatified in Algeria seven French monks and 12 other clergy killed during the country’s civil war, the first ceremony of its kind in a Muslim country. Papal envoy Cardinal Angelo Becciu read the […]

Facing fines and jail time, East Jerusalem brothers see no other option than to demolish their homes themselves. Wadi Qadoum, occupied East Jerusalem – Murad and Johar Hashimeh spent most of Friday removing all the furniture, clothes and other belongings from a room of their modest home in East Jerusalem’s Wadi Qadoum neighbourhood. On Saturday, a […]

JERUSALEM — No sooner had the Israeli military excavators begun to drill into the rocky ground than the suspicions burst forth. They were not directed so much at Hezbollah, Israel’s archenemy to the north: Few Israelis were completely surprised at their government’s assertion that the group had dug tunnels under the Lebanese border. Residents there […]

ISTANBUL — Istanbul’s top prosecutor on Wednesday filed arrest warrants for two senior Saudi officials who are close to the Saudi crown prince, accusing them of masterminding the killing of the dissident Jamal Khashoggi, according to a senior Turkish official familiar with the investigation and state-run media. The two Saudis, Maj. Gen. Ahmad al-Assiri and […]

Looking out from Israeli-held territory, the scrubby and rock-strewn ground pitches steeply downwards towards a patrol road and the border fence. The current frontier with Syria – the young lieutenant points out – is about a third of the way up the opposite escarpment. And just a couple of kilometres beyond that is another ridge, […]

Abdul-Rahman Kassig, also known as Peter, stayed in touch with loved ones throughout his stay in the Middle East – including his captivity – in which he spoke movingly about his work. Below are excerpts from his writings released by his family. Email from Beirut, 18 March 2012 Here, in this land, I have found […]

It is five years since Iranian Masih Alinejad started a movement – since joined by thousands of women – protesting against the compulsory wearing of the hijab, or headscarf, in her country. It spread on social media and led to unprecedented demonstrations in the streets – but is it any closer to achieving its goal? […]

Lawyers lodge case against Rania Youssef, accusing actress of ‘debauchery’ for exposing legs at Cairo film festival. An Egyptian actress is set to face trial next month for wearing a see-through dress at the Cairo film festival that showed her legs, a judicial source said on Saturday. Rania Youssef appeared at the closing session on […]

An Egyptian judge has extended the detention of a female singer charged with “inciting debauchery” after her music video sparked controversy. Laila Amer was arrested on Tuesday after a lawyer filed a complaint. The video for Bos Omak (Look At Your Mother) – an apparent pun on an Arabic profanity – shows Amer dancing and […]