Iraq’s top Shia Muslim cleric on Friday urged security forces to avoid using excessive force to quell weeks of anti-government unrest as authorities grapple with the country's biggest crisis in years...More
Iraqi protesters gathered in main squares across different provinces on Friday, as demonstrators continue to pressure the government and parliament to meet their demands. Since Thursday evening,...More
A Turkish court on Monday ordered the release under supervision of two prominent journalists jailed over alleged links to the failed 2016 coup in the country. Ahmet Altan and Nazli Ilicak walked out...More
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is set to produce in the next few months a report identifying the culprits of chemical weapons attacks in Syria, the body's chief said...More
Turkish and Russian troops on Tuesday began their second joint patrol in northern Syria near Kobani, under a deal that has forced a Kurdish militia away from Turkey's border, while local media...More
Turkey says it has captured a sister of slain Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi during a raid in the Syrian town of Azaz, calling her detention an "intelligence gold mine." A senior Turkish...More
Iraqi security forces opened fire on Wednesday to disperse protesters gathered on a bridge in central Baghdad, shooting live bullets in the air, a witness said. There appeared to be no casualties...More
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres "is shocked by the death toll we have seen in recent days in Iraq ," according to a spokesman. People "need to be able to demonstrate freely and peacefully,...More
The European Union on Tuesday expressed concern at Iran's announcement that it plans to further scale back its commitments under the nuclear deal struck with global partners, known as the Joint...More
Last Thursday India formally implemented legislation approved by Parliament in early August that removes Indian-controlled Kashmir's semi-autonomous status and begins direct federal rule of the...More
Last Friday Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a peaceful solution to the latest crisis in the long-running conflict between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. "The way the situation is for...More
A radical Pakistani cleric who galvanised tens of thousands of followers to march on Islamabad is considering his next move after a deadline he imposed for the prime minister to resign passed without...More
Five candidates, including two former prime ministers, will run to replace ousted Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the country's election authority said on Saturday, amid widespread protests...More
If pushed to sacrifice showering, cooking, drinking or raising his chickens, Tunisian farmer Saeed Barhoumi said he would first forgo showering. It is a decision that he and his family frequently...More
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday there would be no point to any negotiations with the United States, just days ahead of the 40th anniversary of the seizure of the U.S...More
Protesters blocked roads in Beirut and in other parts of Lebanon on Monday, pressing a wave of demonstrations that have paralysed the country for more than two weeks. Demonstrators have been...More
Iran has worked to turn sweeping anti-government protests in Iraq from a threat to its hard-earned influence over its neighbour into an opportunity for political gains, analysts say. In Lebanon too,...More
"I'm sorry, I can't let you through without orders," said the Iraqi civilian manning the makeshift checkpoint, smirking at the befuddled policeman he had waved down in the capital Baghdad. After a...More
Thousands of Iranians chanted "Death to America" near the old U.S. embassy on Monday, the 40th anniversary on the seizure of the mission and a day after Iran's supreme leader vowed it would not lift...More
Iraq's Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi appealed on Sunday to protesters to help restore normal life across the country and said the unrest was costing the economy "billions of dollars". More than 250...More
Lebanese President Michel Aoun called on Thursday for the formation of a new government of technocrats following the resignation of prime minister Saad al-Hariri amid nationwide protests against a...More
With overcrowded Greek migrant camps facing explosive new problems, a top EU legal adviser said on Thursday that Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic broke European Union law by refusing to comply...More
Thousands of activists from Pakistan's opposition political parties were camped in the capital Islamabad on Friday in a bid to force Prime Minister Imran Khan to step down. The protest is led by an...More
A rash of killings by separatist militants targeting outsiders in I ndia's Kashmir has persuaded growing numbers of migrant workers to stay away, rather than risk working in road gangs, building...More
Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi will step down only if parliament's main blocs can agree on his replacement, the country's president said on Thursday, but tens of thousands of protesters said...More
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will hold talks with Indian leaders in New Delhi on Friday, Indian official said, as part of a tour to build support against Iran over its nuclear programme and its...More
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Thursday that his government's ultimate goal was to restore state authority over Kurdish controlled areas in northeast Syria after an abrupt U.S. troop...More
The opponents in Syria's civil war are sitting down at the same table for the first time after eight and a half years of bloodshed to work on a new constitution. At noon on Wednesday, 150 delegates...More
India will formally split up disputed Jammu and Kashmir state into two federal territories on Thursday, aiming to tighten its grip on the restive region that has been in the grip of a harsh security...More
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution on Tuesday officially recognising the "Armenian genocide", a symbolic but unprecedented move that angered Turkey amid already heightened tensions...More
Algeria's election authority has registered 22 candidates for a December presidential election, including two former prime ministers under former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the official APS...More
Algerian authorities should re-open recently shuttered Protestant churches, Human Rights Watch said last Thursday, describing the closures as the latest example of repression of the religious...More
A senior U.S. official said on Tuesday that he had asked Egypt to free blogger and journalist Esraa Abdel Fattah, calling her arrest in a major sweep against dissent "outrageous." David Schenker, the...More
Masked gunmen opened fire at Iraqi protesters in the Shia holy city of Karbala on Tuesday, killing 18 people and wounding hundreds, security officials said, in one of the deadliest single attacks...More
Lebanon's prime minister submitted his government's resignation on Tuesday, bowing to nearly two weeks of unprecedented nationwide protests against corruption and sectarianism. Saad Hariri's sombre...More
Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi's two main backers have agreed to work to remove him from office as protests against his government gained momentum in Baghdad and much of the Shia south, only...More
In a ceremony at an ancient, ruined temple in northern Iraq, Faiza Fuad joined a growing number of Kurds who are leaving Islam to embrace the faith of their ancestors -- Zoroastrianism. Years of...More
Thousands of Iraqi protesters stood fast in Baghdad's central Tahrir Square on Sunday, defying a bloody crackdown that killed scores over the weekend and an overnight raid by security forces seeking...More
Lebanese demonstrators set up barricades and parked cars across key roads on Monday to protest corruption and press their demands for a radical overhaul of their country's sectarian political system...More
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it is assessing an emergency reform package announced by Lebanon's government last week and stressed reforms should be implemented urgently given the...More
Pakistan on Saturday said it denied India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi permission to fly through its airspace due to "ongoing grave human rights violations" in Indian-administered Kashmir . The...More
Thousands of supporters of an ultra-religious political party led by a firebrand cleric took part on Sunday in an anti-government procession headed to Pakistan's capital. Mufti Abrar Ahmed, spokesman...More
The United Nations on Saturday opened a new section of a camp for the displaced in Iraqi Kurdistan to host refugees fleeing Turkish troops in northeast Syria. "Around 11,000 refugees are now living...More
In their long hunt for IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Iraqi intelligence teams secured a break in February 2018 after one of his top aides gave them information on how he escaped capture for so many...More
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that Turkey would "clear terrorists" on its border in northern Syria if Syrian Kurdish militia did not withdraw by the end of a deadline agreed with...More
Village council elections were held on Thursday across Indian-controlled Kashmir, with the detention of many mainstream local politicians and a boycott by most parties prompting expectations that the...More
As Russian and Turkish leaders divvy up security roles in northeast Syria following an abrupt U.S. troop withdrawal, President Donald Trump is focussed on oil fields elsewhere in the war-torn country...More
Lebanese President Michel Aoun said on Thursday he was ready for a dialogue with protesters to help save the country from collapse after days of demonstrations against the ruling elite and he...More
Iraqi police are firing tear gas to disperse thousands of protesters in Baghdad where planned anti-government demonstrations have resumed after a three-week hiatus. Heavy security forces have been...More
After decades of instability, Iraq seemed to be catching a break: jihadists were defeated, violence plummeted, checkpoints were removed. Buoyed by hope, Umm Zeina persuaded her son not to emigrate...More
The Turkish and Syrian ambassadors clashed Thursday at their first U.N. Security Council encounter since Turkey launched a cross-border offensive earlier this month following the withdrawal of U.S...More
India and Pakistan are set to sign an agreement on Indian pilgrims visiting a Sikh shrine in Pakistan, rare cooperation between the nuclear-armed neighbours at a time of tension that has brought...More
Behind a suffocating political system and inquisitive cliches, Iranian youth dream of a break with the system while proudly defending their culture. By Gwenvaël Engel
The German Islam Scholar Lamya Kaddor
Why I as a Muslim Woman Don't Wear a Headscarf
Jordan and the influx of refugees
The true Samaritans
Muslims in Liberal Democracies
Why the West Fears Islam
The decline of Islamic scientific thought
Don't blame it on al-Ghazali
The Media and ''The Innocence of Muslims''
Against the Islamisation of Muslims
Turning away from Shia in Iran
''A Tsunami of Atheism''