Editor's Choice

December 27, 2010

A Turkish boy refleced in a puddle of water as he waves a Palestinian flag during the arrival of Turkish ship Mavi Marmara at Istanbul's Sarayburnu port, on December 26, 2010. The Israeli navy raided on May 31, 2010 the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, which was part of a flotilla of aid ships bound for Gaza, killing several passengers and sparking international outrage.
What to do about Gaza...
11:34 GMT
Two years after Israel's onslaught, the Strip still waits to be rebuilt.

December 26, 2010

Emirati breeders prepare to release their Saluki dogs during the first Arab Heritage Saluki Race Festival in Zayed City in the United Arab Emirates' western Gharbia desert on Christmas Day 2010. Some expats seem to find Saudi Arabia a difficult place to understand...
Expatriate musings on Saudi Arabia: the "shrug factor"
11:38 GMT
Expatriates in Saudi Arabia generally keep to themselves and are often tight-lipped about their hosts and their traits and behaviour. But what do they really think?

December 24, 2010

Islamabad : Pakistani Christian warm themselves around a fire in the slum area of Islamabad
Pakistan: the sick-man of south Asia?
16:47 GMT
Pakistan remains the world's never-ending question. As 2010 concludes, several outstanding issues continue to bedevil the country.

December 23, 2010

China - big in the Gulf.
Gulf oil forcing China to forge closer relations with GCC
12:36 GMT
But deepening long-term economic dependency will not translate into abandoning political and military links with the US
A picture taken on February 14, 2005 shows a Lebanese police officer gesturing on the site of an explosion which killed former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri and 21 others in Beirut. The Beirut government is in paralysis, business deals are on hold and tongues abuzz with rumours as Lebanon anxiously awaits indictments by a UN tribunal probing Hariri's murder.
Violence not an option in Lebanon
07:46 GMT
The beauty of Lebanon was that everyone could be as steadfast as necessary for no one was afraid and no one was ready to give a single inch of his sovereignty...

December 22, 2010

An Egyptian passenger is seen through electoral banners reflected on the windscreen of a public bus in al-Sayyida Zaian district, in downtown Cairo, on November 23, 2010, as the campaign rally for the upcoming November 28, Egyptian general election continues
Egypt, from 1952 to today - shadows of an ailing leader
13:22 GMT
July 23, 1952 marked the beginning of an end. Egyptian militia controlled the cities of Fustat, Memphis, Alexandria, and Cairo for the first time in over two millennia.
The women's cases are mostly related to issues of betrayal, prostitution and love affairs, notes Kurdistan Zirar, a sociologist and researcher at the Erbil correction center for women and children
Letters to the forgotten
12:07 GMT
As soon as a crowd of people curiously gather, Namo retrieves letters from a basket and reads them aloud: "These are letters from women at the correction center; they were sent to you, who are free".
Modern man - a little bit lost?
Time to revive the "Alpha Male"?
07:27 GMT
Despite insisting they don't need men, women will always want them around to feel protected

December 21, 2010

Oshana Khamo is one of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who have taken refuge in Syria from the violence at home who have been kept waiting for years to be resettled elsewhere to start a new life
Red tape and Iraqi refugees in Syria
14:00 GMT
Oshana Khamo is one of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who have taken refuge in Syria from the violence at home and have been kept waiting for years to be resettled elsewhere
Female snipers - a deadlier kind of assassin?
The real Nikita: A female sniper unit in Kurdistan
12:47 GMT
Units of all-female Peshmarga snipers comprise some of the best units in Kurdistan's proud military.
Ally or false friend?
IS the USA the biggest obstacle to peace?
07:21 GMT
The biggest obstruction to peace in the Middle East isn't Israel. It's the United States of America...

December 20, 2010

Hawash was one of dozens of rural women from across the region who showcased their crafts and stories at the opening of the Regional Rural Women's Bazaar on Wednesday
Olive Trees and the 'Feminisation' of Poverty at a Jordan Bazaar
13:17 GMT
Facing economic hardships in her West Bank village, Najieh Hawash turned to the one thing she has known her entire life: olive trees
With lots of affection, gifts and plenty of patience it took Samira three years to gain the acceptance of the children.
Samira: the story of a step-mother
09:42 GMT
Samira is a 27-year-old school teacher. She married Ali after his wife died; leaving him two children aged 10 and 12
Looking to an independent Palestine - sooner or later?
Is an independent Palestinian state "inevitable"?
07:36 GMT
In fact, the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and sovereignty is not conditional upon the approval of the occupier.

December 19, 2010

2010 US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (C), looks on as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel (L) and President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority (R) shakes hands as they re-launch of direct negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian Authority at the State Department in Washington, DC, on September 2, 2010
The Arab League seeks UN Resolution on "Israeli Colonies"
14:01 GMT
"The moment this resolution comes to the UN Security Council, Barack Obama's administration will have a chance to prove to the world that it agrees that the colonies are illegal".