*News and analysis

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 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 …

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 …

A French Muslim man has rejected accusations by the French government that he has four wives, insisting that he has only one wife and several mistresses. A French muslim man accused by the government of practicing polygamy insisted on Monday that he had only one wife and several mistresses, and …

The spiritual leader of Malaysia’s Islamic party has urged religious scholars to practice polygamy, saying they could rid the practice of its bad reputation. Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, who leads the Pan-Malaysia Islamic Party (PAS) which is part of the opposition alliance, said that ulamas could be model polygamous …

“He should be ashamed to meet a leader that has four grown women locked up” – the message from two Saudi princesses to President Obama as he meets with their father, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. In an exclusive on-camera interview with Channel 4 News, we talk to Princesses Sahar and …

Turkey has reportedly launched an espionage investigation after a secret state meeting over possible military intervention in neighboring Syria was leaked on YouTube. Turkish media reported on Saturday that police had briefly detained Onder Aytac, a columnist known to be close to the Hizmet movement of the US-based cleric, Fethullah …

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah announced Saturday that the resistance these days is stronger and more capable at all levels, adding that the resistance issue had always been a matter of controversy. In a televised speech at the launch of the Jabal Amel Culture and Literature forum in Ainatha, …

Egyptian army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Wednesday he had quit the military to run for president and vowed to rid the country of “terrorism” almost nine months after he toppled its elected leader. Sisi, who was also defense minister, faces no serious competition in the election — likely before …