Beijing would like the week to mark a historic turning point in which a unipolar world finally gave way to multipolarity. To others, it was just tub-thumping bravura. In reality, it was a bit of both.

The country now sits at an energy crossroads: will its recovery be anchored in oil and gas, or will it seize the chance to lean into renewables and build something more resilient?

After Israel dealt Iran and its regional axis a string of crippling blows last year, Lebanon now finds itself better-positioned to reclaim its eroded state sovereignty. Will it grab the chance?

Recent books from Yemen, Egypt, and Syria take a new look at the 10th-century philosopher's famed letter 'The Epistle of Forgiveness', which is said to have inspired Dante's 'Divine Comedy'

An earthquake in Afghanistan earlier this week levelled entire villages and left people trapped under rubble for days, but in the shadow of the Hindu Kush, saviours were thin on the ground