Opinion

As a Swiss summit fires the starting gun on the process towards an agreement between Kyiv and Moscow, the two sides have made their demands. Both the battlefield and the White House could impact them.

The 92 nations gathered in a Swiss resort helped by (mostly) committing to Ukrainian territorial integrity as the basis for any peace deal. That is not how Vladimir Putin sees things.

The Syrian regime's crackdown on drug smuggling has yielded few, if any, substantial arrests leading people to dismiss it as a mere media stunt

Israel's killing of 274 civilians in Nuseirat to rescue four hostages on 8 June shows its disdain for international law. A global failure to hold it to account is tantamount to tacit acceptance.

The key stumbling block to the ceasefire talks remains unresolved, namely persuading the Netanyahu government to end its military offensive in Gaza

The attacks are primarily directed at Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia and reveal a carefully orchestrated silencing campaign

Master bombmaker and senior Islamic State leader Socrates Khalil must have had a very different father to have been given his name. It just shows the huge changes that Iraq has gone through.

Despite accusations of racism, this story about the effects of horror and evil is as captivating in 2024 as it was when it was written 125 years ago.

Syria—a crucial ally of Hezbollah with a shared border with Lebanon—could play a strategic role in influencing the outcome of such a confrontation

Mistakenly seen by many as a ceremonial role, the intricate system of governance in Iran means that whoever succeeds Ebrahim Raisi will actually have an important role to play.

The fading prospects of a Gaza ceasefire could be why Hezbollah has intensified its attacks on northern Israel

In a worst-case scenario, there are fears that the IRGC could mount a "velvet coup" to sideline candidates it dislikes or install a weak figurehead into the Supreme Leader role