A number of Saudi Arabia's allies have taken diplomatic action against Iran, amid a row over the Saudi execution of a prominent Shia Muslim cleric Saudi Arabia says it has broken off diplomatic ties with Iran, amid a row over the Saudi execution of a prominent Shia Muslim cleric. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir was speaking after demonstrators had stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran. Sheikh

Yemen is broken. The country once dubbed by the Romans as "Arabia Felix" - "Fortunate Arabia" - because of its lush valleys and rich agriculture has been torn apart by war. The UN estimates that close to 6,000 people have been killed since a Saudi-led nine-nation coalition began air strikes in March 2015, hoping to defeat the Houthi rebels who had taken over half the country. Already the poorest c

Is Saudi Arabia to blame for the rise of the so-called Islamic State (IS or ISIL)? It is commonly claimed that Wahhabism, the strict form of Islam originating in the Kingdom - and the Saudi state's aggressive promotion of it - has fuelled terrorism. Saudi Arabia is also accused of funding IS, either directly or by failing to prevent private donors from sending money to the group. But Saudi Arabia

The Turkmen are ethnic Turks who have lived in the region of Syria, Iraq and Iran since the 11th Century. They are mainly concentrated in the north, in the Turkmen Mountain area in Latakia close to the Turkish border, as well as in Aleppo, Idlib, Homs, Tartus and the Damascus region. There are no reliable population figures, but they are estimated to number between about half a million and 3.5 mil

The Pentagon says it is "reasonably certain" that a US drone strike in Syria has killed the Islamic State militant known as "Jihadi John". Col Steve Warren said Thursday's attack in Raqqa had hit the intended target, but it would take time to "formally declare that we have had success". Mohammed Emwazi, a Kuwaiti-born British militant, appeared in videos of the beheadings of Western hostages. UK P

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond: ''There will be no UK passenger flights out to Sharm el-Sheikh from now'' Intelligence suggests the Russian plane that crashed in Egypt killing all 224 people on board may have been brought down by a bomb, US and UK officials say. But they say they have yet to reach a formal conclusion. Britain earlier suspended flights to and from the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, f

Images of the downed plane were released by the office of Egypt's prime minister, who visited the site A Russian airliner has crashed in central Sinai killing all 224 people on board, Egyptian officials have said. The Airbus A-321 had just left the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, bound for the Russian city of St Petersburg. Wreckage was found in the Hasana area and bodies removed, along with th

The UN says numbers fleeing to the Horn of Africa will continue to grow over the next year "Refugees and migrants", a recent report, external by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) noted, "arrive after many hours at sea often traumatised and exhausted, with little or no personal belonging, and in urgent need of food, water and emergency healthcare." This, however, was not about what

PM Benjamin Netanyahu has been widely criticised for the remarks Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been criticised for saying a Palestinian leader persuaded the Nazis to carry out the Holocaust. Mr Netanyahu insisted Adolf Hitler had only wanted to expel Jews from Europe, but that Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini told him: "Burn them." However, the chief historian at Isra

But fears that another assailant was on the loose in the bus station meant a security alert that lasted a couple of hours. Emotions in the crowd that gathered outside ranged between anger, fear and defiance. Some religious men linked arms and danced, singing Jewish songs. I saw about a dozen women, sobbing and shaking, being treated for what looked like panic attacks by medics. Masked, heavily arm

Russian warplanes have carried out their first air strikes on opponents of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, adding a new dimension to the country's four-year civil war. What is going on? On 30 September, Russia's parliament approved a request by President Vladimir Putin to launch air strikes in Syria. Within hours, the country's first intervention in the Middle East in decades began. Mr Putin s

While much of the world's focus has been on IS, the Syrian government has continued inflicting casualties with airstrikes Once again, Syria is making the headlines. As tens of thousands of desperate Syrians embark on their perilous journeys towards Europe, policymakers in the West are faced with yet another unintended consequence of their failure to resolutely end a conflict that has now killed mo

Syrian and Afghan refugees are demanding the right to travel to Germany from Keleti (East) railway station in Budapest As the crisis brews over Syrian refugees trying to enter European countries, questions have been raised over why they are not heading to wealthy Gulf states closer to home. Although those fleeing the Syrian crisis have for several years been crossing into Lebanon, Jordan and Turke

More than 21 million people in Yemen are in need of help, according to the UN Yemen's conflict has left it on the brink of famine, the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) has warned. Food shortages, lack of fresh water, and low fuel stocks have created a "perfect storm" for the Yemeni people, the WFP's Ertharin Cousin said, external. The organisation estimates nearly 13 million people urgently require

The Syrian Kurd fighters are known for the involvement of women in battles such as Manbij Turkey has been shelling both Kurdish fighters of the Popular Protection Units (YPG) and so-called Islamic State inside northern Syria. The YPG are widely regarded as one of the most effective forces in the fight against IS and attacks on them have prompted calls from the UN, US and EU for Turkey to show rest

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the sanctions regime was never successful, but that it had affected people's lives World powers have reached a deal with Iran on limiting Iranian nuclear activity in return for the lifting of international economic sanctions. US President Barack Obama said that with the deal, "every pathway to a nuclear weapon is cut off" for Iran. And President Hassan Rouhani

In the year since the 50-day conflict with Israel, which saw thousands of Gaza's buildings reduced to rubble, not a single destroyed home has been rebuilt. Israel and Egypt maintain tight border restrictions on the coastal enclave, which have severely hampered reconstruction efforts. They say these are needed for security. Although the UN brokered a deal, external to ease building material imports

Exclusive footage reveals how Islamic State wields power over people's everyday lives in Iraq's second city, Mosul, a year after it was captured. Secretly filmed videos obtained by the BBC's Ghadi Sary show mosques being blown up, abandoned schools, and women being forced to cover up their bodies. Residents said they were living in fear of punishment according to the group's extreme interpretation