A new report on the Gaza Strip by a United Nations (UN) agency makes for sobering reading. The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) reports that the economic cost to Gaza of the Israeli siege since 2007, along with a series of major military assaults, amounts to no less than...

The US has welcomed the formation and the first Leadership Committee meeting of the Afghanistan High Council for National Reconciliation.  The peace body set up in late May has 45 members from across the Afghan political spectrum and is chaired by Abdullah Abdullah. It held its maiden...

In 30 October, Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement expressing its deep pain and regret for the dozens of deaths and injuries in Izmir following an earthquake in western Turkey. Most observers paid little attention to the statement and considered it a customary...

President Emmanuel Macron hosts Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi from Sunday for a three-day state visit with France facing calls from activists that Egypt should not be "indulged" despite the close alliance between Cairo and Paris. Egypt and France have enjoyed an increasingly...