Will oil ever bounce back?
Mikael Tigerström / Flickr
What will be the economic and political fallout as oil continues its slide toward $20 a barrel?
A worker at a Lukoil site in Siberia.
REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin
When you pick apart the strange economics of global energy markets, it becomes clear how the incredible power of Riyadh can take other countries to the brink.
Filipina mom leaves home for work in Qatar, January 12, 2015.
REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco
Trying to close a border leads to more smuggling, Saudi Arabia learned. And more smuggling means more human trafficking.
Pawn sandwich?
Maximus I
Saudi Arabia’s top cleric has branded chess a “waste of time”. He should take a closer look.
How much?
Reuters/Stefan Wermuth
British-made weapons are still finding their way into the wrong hands. Doesn’t parliament have a responsibility to stop that happening?
Uneasy allies. U.S. President Obama with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman.
Jonathan Ernst/REUTERS
The U.S. alliance with Saudi Arabia goes back to the 1930s. Here’s why recent uneasiness doesn’t mean it’s ending anytime soon.
Hasan Rouhani needs to watch his back.
Reuters
With parliamentary elections around the corner, Iran’s deep political conflicts are suddenly on full display.
Iran’s Hasan Rouhani is back on the diplomatic trail.
Reuters
The world’s biggest powers have too much invested in bringing Iran in from the cold to let Saudi Arabia create chaos.
Saudi-Iranian antipathy on the streets.
Reuters/Adnan Abidi
The war of words between the Gulf’s two biggest powers is hotting up, but they’ve been at loggerheads for decades.
Saudi Arabia’s execution of 47 people has prompted global protests.
Reuters
The executions on the weekend are notable for the sheer number of people killed. However, they maintain a policy of political crackdown that was reinvigorated in Saudi Arabia during the Arab Spring.
Reuters
Syria and IS may have dominated the news this year, but the Middle East has plenty of other problems on its hands.
Don’t worry, I’m sure the others’ll be here soon.
SPA/EPA
When is a coalition not a coalition? When you don’t tell the founding members they’re in it.
A growing conflict and poor governance are both playing a role in the failure to protect Yemen’s cultural landmarks.
Reuters
By pursuing their strategic goals in the region, the UK, US and an Arab coalition are indirectly contributing to the destruction of Yemen’s cultural heritage.
Fears are growing that the Paris climate negotiators are making a hash of it.
EPA/Ian Langsdon
At the halfway mark in the Paris climate talks, progress is still frustratingly slow as the negotiations risk falling prey to old stalling tactics.
“Smile, everyone”: Turkey, the US, Saudi Arabia, and Russia at the table in Vienna.
EPA/Eduard Pesov
With Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran and the US all at the table, Russia’s benighted Syria plan may at last have a chance of success.
Stephen Harper shows a friendly face to the world.
Reuters/Chris Wattie
After decades of pioneering global human rights, Canada has become one of the world’s worst holdouts on the arms trade.
Dangerous ground.
Reuters/Fahad Shadeed
Saudi Arabia’s criminal justice system – if you can call it that – has suddenly started to attract increased international scrutiny. Reports of the crucifixion sentence for a teenage protester and the…
Smiling again: Hassan Rouhani.
Reuters/Adrees Latif
After years out in the cold, the Iranians have a chance to be heard in the West – and they’ve got Saudi Arabia on their minds.
Having none of it: the Saudi king, Salman bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud.
Reuters/Yuya Shino
The Gulf’s most powerful state has been catching flack for its policy on Syrian refugees (or lack of same). What chance is there of a change?
Into the unknown.
Reuters/Faisal Nasser
The desert kingdom has never really figured out what to do about Syria – and time may be running out.