Iraq's Islamic Dawa Party has been doing some soul-searching since losing the premiership for the first time in 14 years.

As Iraq's security forces have weakened and violence has increased, observers question whether the country could handle a possible resurgence of terrorists.

Moscow and Cairo signed a strategic cooperation agreement that is supposed to open new venues for bilateral relations in the military, political and cultural domains.

In a statement Friday night, Saudi Arabia said Jamal Khashoggi died in an Oct. 2 fistfight at the country’s Istanbul consulate, after days of denying knowledge of the dissident journalist’s whereabouts.

Tehran is set to get yet another mayor amid ongoing infighting among the Reformists. The question is whether the next internal mayoral vote will put an end to the bickering.

The Israeli prime minister's predictable scapegoating of the IDF head is much easier than formulating a coherent policy on Gaza — and more politically profitable, too.

Egypt is marketing its treasury bonds in Europe and Asia, though some analysts worry that expanding foreign debt will negatively affect the local economy.

A dog festival in Lebanon urges the government to create more animal friendly policies, as well as more public spaces for the country's dogs.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised himself for security achievements, but neglected to address the worrying decline in Israeli research and higher education.

Exclusive: Representatives of all opposition parties say ministers must change stanceThe government is facing renewed pressure over its continued ties to Saudi Arabia following the death of Jamal Khashoggi and the humanitarian disaster in Yemen, after all five main Westminster opposition parties signed an unprecedented joint letter calling for a change of stance.The foreign affairs […]

With Riyadh dependent on arms supplies from the west, its threat to weaponise oil no longer works The Opec oil cartel chose its moment well. Inflationary pressures had been building in the global economy for years and stocks of crude were low. With Israel on top in the Yom Kippur war, Arab oil producers decided […]

In her first speech, the PM hailed a new beginning but 12 months later transformative change is yet to be seen“We believe capitalism must regain its human face, and that conviction deeply influenced our decision.”So said Winston Peters, the kingmaker politician who lent his support a year ago to Labour’s rising star, Jacinda Ardern, after […]

Ricky Simms says former sprinter has been offered dealMike Mulvey: ‘I don’t know anything about it’Usain Bolt’s agent Ricky Simms has said that the eight-time Olympic sprint gold medalist has received an A-League contract offer from the Central Coast Mariners however the club’s manager, Mike Mulvey, said he knew nothing about it.“In response to the […]

Manchester United seem incapable of doing the thing José Mourinho’s teams are renowned for so the manager must change his approachThere are times when you wonder whether the gods of football have almost too pronounced a sense of irony. Not content with a script that pitted an under-pressure José Mourinho against a series of ghosts […]

Inaugural event tackles often-censored topics such as sex work and Thailand’s war-torn southStanding in a massage parlour in the seedy glow of red strip lighting, Pueng turns to the camera. “I have a dream, to build a new house for my family,” she says. “Then I can open a small grocery shop”. It is a […]

The acclaimed director talks to Tim Lewis about his new film, Peterloo, and, further down, answers questions about creative freedom, beards, James Bond - and what Rada didn’t teach himMike Leigh sits before me, in his Soho office, a man without regrets – certainly with regard to his work, but probably in most aspects of […]

Plans to exhibit Prince Harry’s offspring in London Zoo’s disused penguin pool raise disturbing moral questionsRoyal babies are baked to order, like lucky pies, to provide gurgling distractions in times of crisis. Last week, the world’s scientists agreed we have 12 years to limit the worst climate change damage or face mass extinction. Within days, […]

Marbella Ibarra founded the country’s first professional club for women. The discovery of her bound and brutalised body made her a statistic in her home town’s violent recent history Marbella Ibarra was football mad in a machista country where women’s sport is often given short shrift. But with a combination of thick skin, a gift […]

Many of the writer’s novels involve murder by toxic substance. First world war records detail where she got the inspirationAgatha Christie loved her poisons, whether a glass of champagne spiked with cyanide, a dose of lethal strychnine doled out at a country manor house, or, at the heart of her A Caribbean Mystery, some cosmetics […]