Largely isolated since Syria's civil war began in 2011, President Bashar Assad will return home from a trip to China with a new "strategic partnership" in the works. Fu Yue reportsMore

Khalifa Haftar, the strongman of eastern Libya, has placed his six sons in positions of political and military power. The deadly floods in Derna have seen his youngest, Saddam, rise to head of disaster relief management and the top of his succession charts. For Libyans, it spells more bad news, writes Leela JacintoMore

When a devastating earthquake shook Morocco's High Atlas mountains, residents of poor areas where it struck turned for help to the state and the man who leads it, King Mohammed VI. Yet the monarch, with his sweeping powers, has kept a low profile, making just three appearances sinceMore

Chittagong in Bangladesh is one of the ten fastest-sinking coastal cities in the world. Many people moved there fleeing climate disasters elsewhere in the country. With large parts of Chittagong under water for several hours a day, they are likely to be displaced again. Rafiqul Islam Montu reportsMore

Indian authorities downplayed inconvenient macroeconomic facts so that they could celebrate seemingly flattering headline figures as hosts of the G20 summit. But in covering up the growing struggles faced by the vast majority of Indians, they are playing a cynical and dangerous game. By Ashoka ModyMore

It was delicate work for the searchers to remove the woman's body from the rubble of a village that effectively ceased to exist in Morocco's deadliest earthquake in over six decadesMore

Morocco's King Mohammed VI is set to celebrate his 60th birthday on 21 August away from the public eye, as challenges abound almost a quarter century after he ascended the throneMore