Middle East

Police surround Tehran university protesters

Thousands of riot police and Revolutionary Guard members armed with tear gas, batons and firearms were deployed outside Tehran University today to prevent student demonstrations backed by the opposition.

Inside Middle East

Baghdad's nightclubs closed in moral crusade

Monday, 7 December 2009

Authorities have closed all Baghdad nightclubs and dozens of shops selling alcohol, concerned for "public morals," the city's governor said yesterday. Police have closed 95 unlicensed clubs and 42 liquor stores since the start of November. reuters

Family pleads for return of father sentenced to death for witchcraft

Sunday, 6 December 2009

Lebanese pilgrim, arrested and convicted in Saudi Arabia on sorcery charges for his role in a TV show, due to be executed on Thursday

Iran says it needs 20 enrichment sites

Saturday, 5 December 2009

Iran's vice-president said today his country needs 20 industrial-scale uranium enrichment facilities, a potentially dramatic expansion of its nuclear program in defiance of UN demands.

Tel Aviv: Why did a lone gunman shoot 13 people in cold blood in one of the world's gay capitals?

Saturday, 5 December 2009

At 10.20pm on Saturday 1 August 2009, a man walked along Nachmani Street, a residential road in central Tel Aviv. He went into the apartment block at number 28 and down a flight of steps to the basement flat, where a song by Blur was playing on the stereo amid the sound of laughter and conversation. There, the man shot 13 people, killing 26-year-old Nir Katz and 16-year-old Liz Trobishi, before returning up the steps and disappearing into the promenading crowds. His identity remains unknown.