Biden is hosting Iraqi PM Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani in Washington next week. While the two leaders have a host of festering issues to iron out, Iraq seems to be the least of US concerns at the moment.

Whenever Israel's devastating war in Gaza concludes or drastically subsides, Saudi Arabia will be eager to restart the US-led process of signing a strategic bilateral defence pact

The remarkable precision of Israeli assassination strikes on Iranians and Hezbollah operatives in Syria has raised anxiety levels in Damascus and abroad

Former Israeli army chief Benny Gantz joined an emergency government with Benjamin Netanyahu, who most Israelis now seem to want out. What will Gantz do? Israeli street protests may offer clues…

After 100 days of pain and suffering, the people of Gezira state, south-east of Khartoum, have now been promised civilian rule. At what price?

After Iranian generals were killed in Damascus, Tehran will feel it needs to hit back, not least because Iranians demand it. Doing so without declaring all-out war is the tricky bit.

Weeks after his release, Abu Maria al-Qahtani has been assassinated. He was challenging Abu Mohammed al-Jolani within Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Now al-Jolani has a clear road ahead.

The enormous potential for military cooperation between Saudi Arabia and the United States

The Saudis have outlined their conditions for a true and binding pact. Such a pact is highly unlikely, not least because of the current US political atmosphere and the issue of US-Saudi mistrust.

The ruling party is not used to coming second at the ballots, so there were emotive words from the president as he sought to understand what went wrong. Meanwhile, the victorious CHP gets on with it.