If there’s one thing to note about the Syrian conflict’s mixed bag of fighting groups, it’s that nothing is as simple as it sounds. Earlier this year we did a broad round-up of the parties involved — from Afghan Shiite militias fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar al Assad’s troops, to the foreign fighters who’ve become infamous poster children of Daesh’s grim recruitment success online. Last month, AFP photographer Uygar Onder Simsek gave us more insight into the Syrian arena with a series of photos taken in the Syrian border town ...

Your New Year’s resolutions are long forgotten, growing mold with other “best laid plans”. Blame the harsh winter which gave you a month’s worth of excuses to avoid the gym. But wake up now and see you’re just weeks away from beach season. (And don’t forget the cruel reality of a month of iftar feasts looming in June/July!). How best to get your body beach-worthy? The fitness industry has made it’s mark in the Middle East; there’s not a city in MENA that doesn’t boast gyms, fitness centers, dietician clinics ...

Reports emerged after the defeat to Genoa on Wednesday that the coach would be dismissed after a poor season, but the club have announced he will remain at the helm

Bad guys in movies have all the fun, zipping past slow-poke police in sexy, shiny cars that would do James Bond proud . Things get switched up on the turbo-charged streets of the Middle East where simple cop car chases can look like a testosterone-fueled game of Grand Theft Auto - only here it’s the police behind the wheels of a fancy fleet of supercars! The trend is especially true in our oil-rich Gulf states, where newly-developed cities have roads purpose-built to handle all types of souped up cars. (That’s ...

Google search ‘ Yemen’ today, and you’ll get an onslaught of news agency shots of young Yemenis surrounded by the smoking piles of their destroyed homes, or gut-wrenching images of screaming toddlers held by bloodied grandparents, taken moments after a suicide attack. Last month, Saudi began airstrikes in Yemen , intensifying an already-catastrophic siege by Shiite Houthi rebels unfolding on the ground since last September. Now it’s hard to think of anything besides the devastation. It’s easy to forget Yemen’s cultural richness and natural beauty. This nation boasts four UNESCO ...