One summer evening in a Dutch village in the rural province of Drenthe, Raid Sadek, 37, stares in stunned silence at the screen of his phone. On it, a picture has just appeared of a man carrying a bullet proof vest and an automatic assault rifle. ogether, and the man sometimes stops by his...

Youssef Abdelkarim's storefront on one of Baghdad's most historic streets is a time capsule -- literally. Thousands of wristwatches fill the tiny shop, where three generations have repaired Iraq's oldest timepieces. The dusty display window on Rasheed Street features a single row of classic...

While he waits for his lesson at an Egyptian music school, Maissara Mohammed plays his oud, its soothing tones dissolving the stress of daily life during the coronavirus pandemic. "I play four instruments, but the oud is certainly my favourite," the 27-year-old Sudanese engineer says,...

Escalating attacks on the Iraqi capital's few liquor stores have terrified shop-owners who fear hardline Islamists are flexing their muscle against alcohol consumption. But there may be a bigger story behind the Baghdad booze bombings, as some suspect turf wars for control of the lucrative...