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Can things get any worse for the people of Lebanon?

In Lebanon the economy is going downhill at an ever faster rate. The Lebanese are fighting the dramatic effects of the crisis with barter exchanges and joint projects. Apart from that, all they have left is black humour to endure the situation. Tom Allinson reports from Beirut

Staring into the abyss

Lebanon was long viewed as the Switzerland of the Middle East. Until relatively recently, billions were deposited in its banks. Gulf states were among the foremost investors in Beirut. But this all came to an end in 2019. Now the troubled nation is gripped by the worst economic crisis in its history. Birgit Svensson reports from Beirut and Tripoli

The defamation game

The Egyptian regime has been resorting to defamation campaigns to target its opponents as a tactic to silence and discredit any critical voices, claims leading activist Esraa Abdel Fattah in her commentary

Egypt's Sisi dismisses corruption allegations

A military empire

After the Arab spring, the Egyptian military gained unprecedented influence. Able to count on the financial support of several Gulf monarchies, it maintains tight control of the political arena and the Egyptian economy. By Ingy Salama

Freedom of expression at an all-time low

The well-known Egyptian blogger Alaa Abdel-Fattah has been released on bail. Is it a sign that the powers that be in Cairo are ready to allow increased freedom of expression? Egyptian filmmaker and activist Omar Hamilton says it's not. Interview by Sella Oneko

Egypt's open-air prison

Egyptian authorities have arrested thousands in a crackdown on dissent, even its most benign forms. And some former prisoners are finding that they are not really free despite having been released. Ruth Michaelson reports on the case of a female Egyptian activist from Cairo

Cut off from the Rest of the World

Refugee camps are other-worlds where a tent becomes a home, a field of mud is a playground and where thousands of displaced Syrians are trying to adapt to a new, grim reality. Karen Leigh went to see for herself

More scared of starving than of coronavirus

With social distancing impossible in tents, a coronavirus outbreak in one of Lebanon's Syrian refugee camps would quickly turn catastrophic. Yet, many Syrians have more existential fears than those posed by the virus. Diana Hodali reports

All options are open

Is Iran part of the problem or part of the solution to the conflicts in the Near and Middle East? There are actually good arguments for both points of view. By Bahman Nirumand