Shia Islam | Shiite Muslims
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Kashmir conflict
"An entire people is traumatised"
Twenty-eight-year-old photojournalist Masrat Zahra documents the situation in India-administered Kashmir with her camera. In this interview with Elisa Rheinheimer, she talks about life in a state of emergency, conservative Kashmiri society and her own family's reservations about what she does
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Lebanese thinker Martin Accad
"Lebanon's tragedy is political sectarianism"
With no end to Lebanon's crisis of statehood in sight, Qantara.de met up with leading Lebanese thinker and theologian Martin Accad to discuss the country's current difficulties and explore ongoing efforts to find a way out of the morass. Interview by Erik Siegl
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Iran's zurkhaneh bodybuilders
Praying in the house of strength
In Iran, a centuries-old form of strength training that combines athletics and religious ritual is still practiced to this day. Reporting for Qantara.de, Marian Brehmer paid a visit to one of these ancient "houses of strength" in Shiraz
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The Gulf
Bahrain – where human rights don’t count
The catastrophic human rights situation in Bahrain is being largely ignored by the rest of the world. Despite all the damning evidence, which includes a Human Rights Watch report, the West is unlikely to apply any pressure on the regime due to geostrategic interests. By Diana Hodali
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Iranian economy
The causes of Iran's economic woes
Talks to salvage the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal have entered their eighth round in Vienna. Even if a deal is struck and some of the sanctions are lifted, the state of the Iranian economy is such that there can be little hope that any relief provided by a revived agreement will trickle down to the general population. By Ali Fathollah-Nejad
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Terrorism in Pakistan
Afghan Taliban do little to stop Pakistan Taliban
The Pakistani Taliban, known by the acronym TTP, are regrouping and reorganising, with their leadership headquartered in neighbouring Afghanistan, according to a U.N. report from July. That is raising fears among Pakistanis of a return of the horrific violence the group once inflicted
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Yemen conflict
Marib: from refuge to battlefield
The city of Marib is the most important place of refuge in Yemen for those displaced in the country. But fighting between Houthi rebels and government troops is currently escalating there, further exacerbating the humanitarian catastrophe. Karim El-Gawhary reports
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Lebanon
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
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40th anniversary of the death of Shia scholar Allameh Tabatabai
The modest scholar of Qom
Right up until his death, Allameh Tabatabai dedicated himself to the revival of Shia Islam’s intellectual traditions. But few in the West have even heard of this exceptional philosopher. A portrait by Marian Brehmer
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Climate heroes in Iraq
A life for the trees
It is getting hotter and hotter in Iraq. Fifty degrees or more is no longer a rarity. The state between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers is now one of the hottest countries on earth. Muwafaq Mubareka from Baghdad is determined to fight global warming. Birgit Svensson paid the climate hero a visit
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The Afghanistan-Pakistan-China axis
India's Taliban problem
The Taliban’s victory over the United States in Afghanistan will not only greatly embolden their fellow jihadists, but also shake up the region’s geopolitics. An Afghanistan-Pakistan-China axis involving policy co-ordination would represent a major risk for India, writes Shashi Tharoor
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Afghanistan
Taliban size up the threat from a tenacious IS-K
As the Taliban shift their focus from insurgency to government, their most formidable rival is the Islamic State's regional chapter, which has staged a string of bloody attacks in recent weeks.