A training barracks used by Roman gladiators and the 2,000-year-old mausoleum of the Emperor Augustus could be restored with money from the Saudi royal family, in the latest effort by Italy to secure funding for its crumbling cultural heritage. In a deal brokered by Ignazio Marino, the mayor of Rome, …

Once a preserve of Christian charities, Muslim-run food banks are now catering for diverse communities in need. The Sufra food bank, run from a small community centre on a north-west London housing estate, is in high demand. The Muslim charity’s Wednesday afternoon session sees a constant stream of people coming to …

FIFA has threatened to expel Israel over its treatment of Palestinian football players and officials in the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip. The Inside World Football website said in a report on Monday that FIFA gave Israel until summer to improve playing conditions and travel for the …

Rafah, Gaza Strip – Two men load boxes onto a solitary motorcycle-pulled trailer in an otherwise deserted pavilion. The Gaza Strip’s customs and excise terminal on the southern border with Egypt, once a hive of activity, now sees barely a trickle of imports after the Egyptian military began destroying Gaza’s extensive network …

A group of Iranians, including a nine-year-old girl, have taken three British banks to court, saying their accounts were closed based on ethnic reasons. About twenty Iranians are suing the three high-street UK banks, RBS, NatWest and Lloyds for what they call misreading the sanctions policy in closing their accounts …

A court in Bahrain has sentenced 12 teenagers to life in prison for allegedly attempting take a police officer’s life, setting a police car ablaze and taking part in an anti-regime protest, a defense lawyer says. Other defendants were sentenced to up to 51 years in prison for similar charges …

Patrick Cockburn – The Independent  President Obama flew to Saudi Arabia to patch up relations with King Abdullah at the end of last week in his first visit in five years. The alliance had been strained by Saudi anger over US negotiations with Iran on its nuclear programme and Obama’s …

New leaks by the US National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden demonstrates that the NSA collected data on 122 world leaders in a single month. According to German news magazine Der Spiegel, the intelligence database included 300 files only on German Chancellor Angela Merkel. According to the document, the …

NICOSIA — The Syrian Army has been working on encircling the nation’s largest city. Western diplomats said the Army, backed by Hizbullah and other Iranian proxies, was moving steadily into Aleppo. They said forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad were advancing into Aleppo from three directions and reached the …

In its basement sanctuary, the boxing ring is, like the altar inside the church above it, sacred. Within its four roped corners, fighters wash away their past, submit to the present and come clean in the truth of battle where there can only be one winner and one loser. Tucked …