EPA/Nawras Aamer
Fallujah has been an icon of Sunni resistance ever since the US bombed it in 2004.
EPA/SANA
By striking deep in Bashar-al Assad’s heartland, Islamic State issued a reminder that his regime will never control all of Syria.
Not everyone is impressed.
EPA/Ali Mohammed
At first, it seems like IS has an image perfect for driving recruitment – but in fact, its image has very limited appeal.
Suleima.
Courtesy of Jalal Maghout
Films provide subtle, personal perspectives on the Arab world that conventional reporting and Hollywood drama simply cannot match.
Woman at wreckage of deadly car bomb in Baghdad.
REUTERS/Wissm Al-Okili
Obama’s military strategy in Iraq and Syria hasn’t defeated the Islamic State, but it isn’t a total failure either. A retired major general and law professor looks at the successes and shortcomings.
The Sykes-Picot Agreement was the result of secret deliberations between British civil servant Mark Sykes and French diplomat François Georges-Picot.
Wikimedia Commons
The Sykes-Picot Agreement created the modern Middle East. It represents one of the first installments in a long line of modern European – and subsequent American – meddling in the region.
The Sykes-Picot Agreement divided up the Asiatic provinces of the Ottoman Empire into zones of direct and indirect British and French control.
By Royal Geographical Society via Wikimedia Commons
Over the years the words Sykes-Picot have taken on two meanings – one significant, the other less so.
The promise of recently explored oilfields dictated British interest in Mesopotamia (roughly, modern-day Iraq) during the Sykes-Picot Agreement negotiations.
Reuters/Thaier Al-Sudani
The Sykes-Picot Agreement delivered the spoils of war to Britain and France, and deferred the dreams of Arab nationalists.
EPA/Zouhir al Shimale
The world has singularly failed to find a path forward for Syria – or to stop the Assad government flagrantly violating all efforts to stop the conflict.
Ethiopians reading newspapers in the capital Addis Ababa. The country’s media is among the most repressed on the continent.
Reuters/Tiksa Negeri
Press freedom has changed little in the past decade. If the African Union is to commit to the principles of democracy, it needs to do more to uphold freedom of expression and protects its journalists.
Suspended Labour Party MP Naz Shah speaks in the House of Commons.
PA / PA Wire/Press Association Images
When anti Jewish rhetoric emerges into the light, it is worth reminding ourselves of the dark history at its root.
Frank Augstein/AP
A model Palmyra’s Arch of Triumph, made in Italy from Egyptian marble, has been installed in London’s Trafalgar Square. Is this such a good thing?
A protest in Tel Aviv backs the soldier who “executed” an unarmed Palestinian.
EPA/Jim Hollander
Israeli politicians have become obsessed with their country’s global image – and they’re shoring it up by cracking down on the debate at home.
The Iraqi army is in increasing need of the US’s help.
EPA/Nawras Aamer
The Obama administration likes to say it won’t put “boots on the ground” in Iraq – but that’s increasingly at odds with reality.
Yemenis have lived under the shadow of drones for years.
EPA/Yahya Arhab
The US has been mounting semi-secret drone strikes in Yemen for years – and it seems the UK has been deeply involved.
The world can only expect more attacks such that that took place in Brussels, as Islamic State continues to decline and lash out.
EPA/Christophe Petit Tesson
Although not an intuitive conclusion, the Brussels attacks are actually indicative of Islamic State’s growing decline and desperation.
Speaking to AIPAC in Washington March 21.
Joshua Roberts/Reuters
If you take Donald Trump at his word, what would his foreign policy look like?
EPA/Russian Defence Ministry
The Russian president is proving he has learned what America didn’t: to quit while ahead.
He’s off, and he’s burning bridges.
EPA/Larry W. Smith
Speaking to The Atlantic, the president didn’t leave anything out – except the bit where thousands died and millions lost their homes.
So much water has gone into groundwater it has slowed rising seas.
Bore image from www.shutterstock.com
There’s enough water under the ground to form a lake 100m deep over the earth.