Uneasy calm as truce in Gaza allows talks resume72-hour ceasefire continues to holdTue Aug 12 2014 - 01:00
Israel and Palestinians agree to further 72-hour ceasefireDespite cessation, outcome of talks in Cairo is uncertainMon Aug 11 2014 - 01:00
Palestinians demand end to eight-year blockadeEgypt backs negotiators’ demand for lifting of Israeli siege of GazaMon Aug 11 2014 - 01:00
Hamas accuses Israel as Gaza hostilities resumeIsraeli talks delegation returns from Cairo to JerusalemSat Aug 09 2014 - 01:00
Gaza truce collapses with both sides unwilling to concede key demandsHamas now seen by Palestinians as the only resistance to Israeli occupationSat Aug 09 2014 - 01:00
Palestinians in race against time for political gainsHamas and Fatah know that outrage at the destruction in Gaza will soon waneFri Aug 08 2014 - 01:01
Hamas leader claims military battle won as ceasefire nears endIsraelis to confer with home government before responding to Palestinian demandsFri Aug 08 2014 - 01:00
Rebuilt Sarajevo an oasis of civilisation and mutual toleranceSarajevo Letter: religious and ethnic tolerance contrasts with narrow doctrine of IsisWed Aug 06 2014 - 01:00
Egyptian president needs to show diplomacy skills to keep Gaza talks on trackAnalysis: al-Sisi ’s negotiators face Herculean task to secure long-term truceWed Aug 06 2014 - 01:00
Egypt engages in talks with Palestinian umbrella delegationTalks proceed despite Israel’s boycott and the failure of US deputy secretary of state William Burns to arriveTue Aug 05 2014 - 01:01
Palestinians in talks with US and quartet as Israel stays awayCairo discussions sponsored by Egyptian president focus on basic ceasefire planMon Aug 04 2014 - 01:00
Qatari and Turkish roles in Gaza talks coloured by regional power playPro and anti-Hamas states snipe at one another to gain political leverageSat Aug 02 2014 - 01:00
Concern that Egypt’s ‘war on subsidies’ could turn into a war on the poorThe government is finally tackling subsidies, but who will benefit and who will suffer?Thu Jul 31 2014 - 01:00
Sisi’s hard line on Gaza not popular with Egyptian activistsAnalysis: Cairo longs to see Hamas deposed and the Palestinian Authority returnedWed Jul 30 2014 - 01:00
Israel’s rejection of ceasefire clears Hamas in blame gameAnalysis: Hamas’s call for a 24-hour truce had humanitarian and strategic purposesMon Jul 28 2014 - 01:00
Palestinian desperation fuelling mounting Hamas truce demandsWhile there has been a pause in hostilities, an end is not in sightFri Jul 25 2014 - 01:00
Qatar-brokered talks seek better ceasefire plan than Cairo’s proposalQatari effort would deprive Egypt’s newly inaugurated president of a diplomatic coupMon Jul 21 2014 - 01:00
Egypt caught between the West and a hard place over Palestinian conflictCairo’s failure to broker a ceasefire is not surprising given its difficult positionSat Jul 19 2014 - 01:00
Egyptian president holds talks with Abbas on ceasefire proposalBlair says priority must be stopping the violenceThu Jul 17 2014 - 01:00
Trial in Cairo of Irish national Ibrahim Halawa postponed until AugustTeenager held on terrorism charges since protest against ousting of former president Mohamed MorsiWed Jul 16 2014 - 01:00
Egypt anxious to bolster regional standing with Gaza truceIsraeli ground invasion of Gaza would sideline and humiliate CairoWed Jul 16 2014 - 01:00
Radical insurgent emirate stretches from east Syria to west IraqThe unified Jabhat and Isis may boast 30,000 fighters – a threat to BaghdadThu Jun 26 2014 - 01:00
Boys as young as 15 recruited to fight in Syria, says Human Rights WatchChildren have taken part in battles, acted as spies, manned checkpoints and ferried ammunition to front linesMon Jun 23 2014 - 21:53
Betrayal of Arabs after first World War set stage for turbulent centuryMiddle East state borders endured despite origins in deals between British and FrenchSat Jun 21 2014 - 11:10
Agencies appeal for aid as humanitarian crisis deepens in IraqAlready stretched by the conflict in Syria, NGOs are trying desperately to assist displaced IraqisFri Jun 20 2014 - 01:01
Both sides fuelling Iraqi sectarian power struggle that threatens state’s existenceAnalysis: a militant attack on Baghdad could lead to a full-scale war and regional unrestTue Jun 17 2014 - 01:00
The West bears some responsibility for rise of fundamentalism across regionAnalysis: western hostility to secular nationalism has helped radical groups flourishMon Jun 16 2014 - 01:00
Kurd expansion risks stoking Iraqi conflictA land grab by Iraqi Kurds could intensify the civil conflictSat Jun 14 2014 - 01:00
Isis dogma shows zero tolerance of dissentIraqis contravening the jihadi extremists’ strictures face punishment or exileFri Jun 13 2014 - 01:00
Isis on the rise through the Iraqi quagmireBrutal movement that has no jihadi rivals in Iraq aims to create Islamic stateThu Jun 12 2014 - 01:00
Conflict stalled an embroidery business and left it after years as stitches in timeHeike Weber organised women in fine craft work in Palestine and Syria before trouble intervenedTue Jun 10 2014 - 01:00
Syria’s wasteland of ghosts and sorrowA ‘war waged by thieves’ has desecrated the Old City of HomsSat Jun 07 2014 - 01:00
Syrians yearn for unity under re-elected AssadPresident’s third term offers chance for reconciliation, say SyriansFri Jun 06 2014 - 01:00
Assad wins Syrian election with 88.7% of voteCelebratory machine gun fire ripples across Damascus as results announcedThu Jun 05 2014 - 01:00
Syrians defy insurgent unrest to voteQueues at polling stations despite heavy security and mortar fireWed Jun 04 2014 - 01:00
Syrian vote: Bashar Assad to win new term as presidentIncumbent expected to record landslide victory as opposition deride poll as ‘parody’Tue Jun 03 2014 - 07:11
Presidential candidate backed by a clan that does not want him to winHassan al-Nouri knows he has no chance of beating the incumbentTue Jun 03 2014 - 01:00
Syrians prepare to go to polls in one-horse presidential electionTwo opposing candidates no threat to continued Assad ruleMon Jun 02 2014 - 01:08
Egypt’s opposition leader in for long haul towards democracyProgress since the uprising is slow, with parties ‘divided, split down the middle’Sat May 31 2014 - 01:00
Egypt’s Sisi set for sweeping victoryTurnout in presidential poll recorded at 44% despite extension of voting to three daysWed May 28 2014 - 21:54
Voting in Egyptian election extended to third dayTurnout for presidential poll low depriving al-Sisi of convincing mandateWed May 28 2014 - 01:00
Egyptians go to the polls gripped by Sisi maniaVoters hope the ex-army chief can mollify Egypt’s political extremesTue May 27 2014 - 01:00
Sisi’s victory margin will reveal most about Egyptian pollAnalysis: presumed new president faces economy in crisisMon May 26 2014 - 01:00
Egypt besieged on all sides as it heads into another electionThe new president will have to deal with people’s loss of faith in the country’s ability to resolve its problemsSat May 24 2014 - 01:00
Egyptians concerned over state of economyElection is not a contest but a consultation to confer legitimacy on present governanceFri May 23 2014 - 01:29
Mubarak sentenced to three years for embezzlementRuling against former Egyptian president comes ahead of election next weekThu May 22 2014 - 00:21
Iraq PM Nouri al-Maliki’s bloc wins most seats but still short of majorityBlocs commanded by Shia fundamentalist rivals came a distant second and thirdTue May 20 2014 - 01:00
Kerry to meet opposition head and ‘Friends of Syria’ in LondonMove to revive diplomatic option for resolving conflictThu May 15 2014 - 01:00
Presidential election campaign begins in Syria as Aleppo still under siegeAssad expected to win by landslide in June voteMon May 12 2014 - 01:00
Homs back in Syrian government hands as rebels evacuatedHandover of Old City a serious defeat for oppositionThu May 08 2014 - 01:00
