Podcast: Beyond the Headlines

DAMASCUS, SYRIA - DECEMBER 08: People watch soldiers and military vehicles parade through the streets to mark one year since the fall of the Assad regime on December 8, 2025 in Damascus, Syria. The first anniversary of the fall of the Assad regime in Syria is being marked today across the country. Former leader Bashar al-Assad was granted asylum in Russia after he fled the country and his government collapsed on December 8, 2024. The fall of the regime, which ended over five decades of the Assad family's rule, came after a rapid offensive by opposition forces led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). A transitional government, headed by Ahmed al-Sharaa (formerly the HTS leader), is now in place and working on the country's reconstruction and political transition. (Photo by Chris McGrath / Getty Images)

The year in impact: our episodes that resonated the most in 2025

Host Nada AlTaher talks about the stories that were most challenging and rewarding to cover on the podcast

Members of the forces of Yemen's main separatist group, the Southern Transitional Council, look on as they arrive in a mountainous area where they are launching a military operation in the southern province of Abyan, Yemen, December 15, 2025. REUTERS / Stringer

How Yemen’s power balance is shifting again

What’s stalling phase two of the Gaza ceasefire?

One year since Assad’s fall: Where is Syria today?

Egypt

The Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Humanitarian Ship was carrying aid supplies for the people of Gaza. Wam

UAE humanitarian ship carrying essential aid for Gaza arrives at Al Arish

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Humanitarian Ship contains more than 7,300 tonnes of supplies

UAE

Sudan heads into 2026 with shifting front lines and no end to war in sight

MENA

Egypt finalises deal to develop Djibouti's port in bid to pressure Ethiopia over Nile dam

MENA

UK orders urgent inquiry into British-Egyptian activist's 'abhorrent' tweets

UK

Lebanon

Prague’s historic centre will soon include a new development that will transform an entire inner block into a public destination. Photo: Crestyl Group

Prague's Savarin district to be reimagined by Arab architect Omar Koleilat

The company will spearhead the 15,000-square-metre project, due to open in 2029

Art & Design

An artist-led exhibition reckons with Lebanon’s trauma

Art & Design

Lebanon turns to Egyptian gas to ease electricity shortages

Energy

Four missing trying to cross river on Syria-Lebanon border

MENA

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