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Santa closed: in Beirut, crisis snuffs out Christmas spirit

Beirut in December was once a shopping extravaganza, where day-long traffic jams clogged streets decked out with flashing Christmas lights and building-sized billboards advertising champagne and jewellery

Lonely white males

With his latest tome, French literary provocateur Michel Houellebecq completes his writer's quest: to portray a dying white patriarchy. The big surprise comes in the acknowledgements. Christine Lehnen read the book

BBC Radio 4: Nazanin

The mystery of a decades-old tank debt with Iran, and how it may have ended up costing British-Iranian detainee Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe her freedom today.

Afghans put down roots in U.S. refugee haven

India and Bangladesh under water

"Freedom starts in the mind"

In his two documentary films, Ayat Najafi has focused on women who are fighting for change in Iran. Marian Brehmer talked to him about his projects and the difficulties faced by Iranian filmmakers

COVID-19 and conflict: Seven trends to watch

Deadly and disruptive as it already is, and terribly as it could yet worsen and spread, the 2020 coronavirus outbreak could also have political effects that last long after the contagion is contained. Crisis Group identifies seven points of particular concern.

A pawn in Assad's game

For Palmyra, Assad is just as bad as IS. Completely rebuilding Palmyra's destroyed cultural treasures would turn it into a kind of Disneyland, says archaeologist Annie Sartre-Fauriat. Interview by Sabine Oelze

A dirty double-cross

The reconquest of Palmyra is a bittersweet victory: with finger-pointing and insinuations, the warring factions are exploiting the site's destruction for propaganda purposes. By Joseph Croitoru

Fiancee Hatice Cengiz on Khashoggi's murder: "We need a neutral and independent trial"