The election is Bahrain’s second since pro-democracy protests erupted in 2011. Bahrainis are casting their ballots in parliamentary and municipal runoffs on Saturday, despite a boycott by the Gulf monarchy’s opposition. Polls opened at 8am local time (0500 GMT) and close at 8pm (1700 GMT). A record 67 percent of eligible voters participated in last […]

Sahand destroyer can sustain voyages lasting five months without resupply, according to state media. Iran’s navy launched a domestically made destroyer, which state media said has radar-evading stealth properties, amid rising tensions with the United States. In a ceremony carried live on state television on Saturday, the Sahand destroyer – which can sustain voyages lasting […]

DAMASCUS (AFP) – Israeli jets on Thursday (Nov 29) bombed several areas near Damascus as well as in southern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said. “Israeli forces bombarded for an hour positions in the southern and southwestern suburbs of Damascus, as well as in the south of Syria at the border of […]

Prospects for UN-brokered summit in Sweden appear bolstered by a Saudi TV report and Houthi chief’s remarks. Yemen’s warring parties have suggested they will attend the United Nations-sponsored peace talks in Sweden next week as efforts aimed at ending a conflict that has pushed millions to the edge of starvation gather pace. A delegation of […]

Doctors without Borders says number of injuries ‘would overstretch the best healthcare systems in the world’. An international medical aid group says the vast number of patients treated for gunshot wounds from months of border protests has overwhelmed Gaza’s already fragile healthcare system. Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, on Thursday said […]

A 9,000-year-old stone mask has been revealed by the Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA), one of only 15 in the world. The artefact has been traced back to the area around Hebron in the south of the occupied West Bank. Online newspaper the Times of Israel reports that authorities recovered the mask from thieves earlier in […]

With its high literacy rate and traditional mercantile culture, Lebanon has traditionally been an important commercial hub for the Middle East. It has also often been at the centre of Middle Eastern conflicts, despite its small size, because of its borders with Syria and Israel and its uniquely complex communal make-up. Shia Muslims, Sunni Muslims, […]

It’s a year since the Syrian city of Raqqa was freed from the grip of the group known as Islamic State. Evidence of the brutal battle to dislodge the extremists is visible everywhere you look. But the fear of the people who’ve returned to this broken city is that the rest of the world is […]

The battle for Mosul was a huge military operation to recapture Iraq’s second largest city from so-called Islamic State (IS). Mosul fell to IS in June 2014, with IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaiming the creation of a “caliphate” from its ancient and now destroyed Great Mosque of al-Nuri. Thousands of Iraqi soldiers, Kurdish fighters, […]

Football star Mo Salah has spoken out against plans in his home nation of Egypt to export stray animals abroad, amid fears they will be used for food. “Cats and dogs will not be exported anywhere. This won’t happen and can’t happen,” he tweeted, alongside images of his pet Siamese cats. Animal rights activists reacted […]