[caption id="attachment_55233836" align="alignnone" width="620"] Traffic in Istanbul[/caption] [inset_left]plaka [pi-LYA-ka] n. number plate. This rectangular piece of aluminium is an important…

[caption id="attachment_55233813" align="alignnone" width="620"] Abdellah Taïa, one of the 39 featured writers[/caption]Beirut 39: New Writing from the Arab World is an anthology of writing by young…

[caption id="attachment_55233769" align="aligncenter" width="620"] Relatives of Sevil Sevimli, a 19-year-old French student of Turkish descent who was arrested and detained in Turkey on suspicion of…

[caption id="attachment_55233703" align="alignnone" width="620"] David Roberts: El Deir, Petra[/caption] The Victorians were fascinated by scenes of far-off lands, in particular by what was…

[caption id="attachment_55233686" align="aligncenter" width="620"] Retired teacher Rahim Demirbas has planted thirty-five thousand trees around his village (Photo © N. Birch)[/caption]I first met…

[caption id="attachment_55233625" align="alignleft" width="620"] Arabic Beat cd cover[/caption] [inset_left]Arabic Beat Released July 2012 Putumayo World Music[/inset_left] Putumayo World Music,…

[caption id="attachment_55233531" align="alignnone" width="620"] (credit: Marchina) Boys stand in front of one of the concrete barricades in Mohammed Mahmoud street[/caption] Swiss artist Jean-Luc…

[caption id="attachment_55233519" align="aligncenter" width="600"] A file photo of the Pentagon's THAAD anti-missile defense rocket[/caption]The US has a long-standing commitment to the Gulf States…

[caption id="attachment_55233408" align="alignnone" width="620"] Brigitte Lacombe: Sudan Running Team[/caption] Entering the exhibition Hey’Ya: Arab Women in Sport at Sotheby’s in London, I stop by…

[caption id="attachment_55233332" align="aligncenter" width="620"] Syrian refugees wash clothes at the Zaatari Camp, Jordan’s first official camp for Syrian refugees[/caption]The global response to…