Podcast: Beyond the Headlines

The USS George Bush in the Arabian Sea as the US enforces a naval blockade against Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. Centcom.
Headphones

What's next in the battle for Strait of Hormuz?

US and Iran have leveraged waterway as they try to navigate end to war

A man votes during the municipal council election in Birzeit near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Reuters.
Headphones

Making sense of Palestine’s local elections

Can Iraq shake off the grip of foreign influence?

Death penalty: The new threat to Palestinian detainees

Egypt

The Nilometer on Cairo’s Roda island was used for centuries to gauge the water level during the annual flood season. Hamza Hendawi / The National

Cairo's Nilometer measures mood of Egyptians gripped by threat of Ethiopia's dam

Egyptians no longer rely on the 9th-century gauge to check the river's water level - and whether they will have enough to eat for the next year. But its symbolic importance remains...

MENA

President Sheikh Mohamed and Egypt's El Sisi meet pilots keeping UAE safe

UAE

Remembering Hany Shaker, a balladeer caught between old and new music traditions

Music & On-stage

Hany Shaker, ‘Prince of Arab Song’, dies aged 74 in Paris

Culture

Lebanon

Smoke from an Israeli bombardment rises behind Beaufort Castle. AFP

Lebanon's Crusader-era Beaufort Castle is consumed by conflict once again

The imperious 12th-century fortification has had a bird's-eye view of many battlefields. Now, with its surrounding villages emptied by forced displacement orders as Israel's air strikes rain down, war has returned to its doorstep

MENA

Israeli strikes kill 18 in south Lebanon despite ceasefire

MENA

Iran war latestUS expects Iran's response to proposal today, says Rubio

MENA

Lebanon and Israel to hold third round of talks in Washington next week

US

Newsletter

Middle East Today

Middle East Today

Your indispensable round-up of the key developments in the region

PreviewSign up