The UK transport secretary has refused to say he would book a foreign holiday for himself and his family yet, even as travel restrictions are eased for several destinations. Grant Shapps warned anyone looking to travel abroad that the rules could change
In early April, inmates at Bahrain’s Jau prison crowded into the corridors to protest. They were angry about a lack of medical treatment and fearing for their lives after the death of another inmate. Their sit-in at building 13 lasted 10 days,
Boris Johnson has been accused of putting trade before torture after he met senior Bahraini officials in Downing Street to discuss a free trade deal with the Gulf states. Neither the Foreign Office nor Downing Street advertised the meeting with the country’s
Saudi Arabia has announced that this year’s hajj pilgrimage will be limited to 60,000 vaccinated people from within the kingdom because of the coronavirus pandemic. The kingdom ran a reduced pilgrimage last year, but still allowed a small number of people to
Israeli police have blocked a planned march by Jewish nationalists through Palestinian neighbourhoods of Jerusalem after a similar parade last month played a key role in building the tensions that led to the latest Gaza conflict. In a statement, police said a permit for
Iran and the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), have overcome their differences to seal a one-month “stop-gap” extension of limited UN inspections of Iran’s nuclear activities. The agreement, lasting until 24 June, comes despite the speaker of the
Israel and Palestinian militants halted their fire for several hours early on Thursday amid efforts to reach a truce, although intense rocket fire and further airstrikes throughout the day dashed hopes of an imminent ceasefire. It was not immediately clear if the
Israeli police have stormed the sacred Jerusalem compound that holds the Dome of the Rock amid mounting international concern over the worsening violence in the city. Following the most serious clashes in the city since 2017, the Palestine Red Crescent reported 305
A senior diplomat at the Swiss embassy in Tehran has been found dead after falling from a high-rise building where she lived in the north of the city, a spokesman for emergency services was quoted as saying by Iranian news agencies. The
Iraq’s interior ministry has said 82 people died and 110 were injured in a catastrophic fire that broke out in the intensive care unit of a Baghdad hospital tending to severely ill coronavirus patients. Negligence on the part of hospital authorities has
