World
Middle East
Iranian women forced to wash corpses for refusing to wear veil
The punishments highlight a widening crackdown on women and girls, as Iranian MPs vote to review, behind closed doors, new laws that would enshrine penalties.
- by Lucy Cormack
Latest
Mesopotamia, home to the gardens of Babylon and Eden, is running dry
The cradle of civilisation, the land between rivers where the wheel was invented, irrigation flourished and writing emerged, is turning to dust.
- by Alissa J. Rubin
‘Not if, but when’: Australian flying car start-up sets sights on Dubai
“Flying cars are no longer figments of imagination in the realm of science fiction movies and will enter into mainstream service in the very near future,” says Australian start-up Pegasus.
- by Lucy Cormack
A small slice of Wollongong in Dubai, where the export of Australian education is big business
This year almost 700 students in the United Arab Emirates will graduate from the University of Wollongong without ever stepping foot in NSW.
- by Lucy Cormack
To stop Iranian seizures, US may put Marines on commercial ships
The contemplated move also would represent an extraordinary commitment in the Mideast by US forces as the Pentagon tries to focus on Russia and China.
- by Lolita C. Baldor and Jon Gambrell
Israeli doctors strike, army reservists ask to stand down amid fury over judiciary changes
Former top brass have warned that Israel’s war-readiness, with Arab and Iranian adversaries spread across the Middle East, could be at risk.
- by Dan Williams
Sassy Trucker stuck in Dubai after clash with car rental company
American influencer Tierra Young Allen has been stuck in Dubai for months in the latest case showing the limits of speech in the United Arab Emirates.
- by Jon Gambrell
Updated
Protests
Israeli parliament votes in controversial supreme court changes
Israeli lawmakers approved a key portion of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s divisive plan to reshape the country’s justice system despite massive protests.
- by Tia Goldenberg and Isaac Scharf
Updated
Protests
Netanyahu recovers in hospital as thousands protest his controversial reforms
The Israeli prime minister was having an emergency procedure to implant a pacemaker, plunging the country deeper into turmoil following widespread protests.
- by Julia Frankel and Josef Federman
Swedish embassy in Baghdad stormed, set alight over Koran burning
Hundreds stormed the building in Iraq’s capital to protest against the second planned Koran burning in Sweden in weeks.
- by Timour Azhari and Anna Ringstrom
Morality police return after protests to impose Islamic dress on women
The new campaign to force women to wear the Islamic headscarf came as morality police returned to the streets 10 months after the death of a woman in their custody.