Israeli elections: What would a new government change?
Israelis will vote on Tuesday in the first national election since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack and subsequent war on Gaza. Prime M...
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Beyond the Headlines
Dive deeper into the week's biggest stories from the Middle East and around the world with The National's foreign desk. Nuances are often missed in day-to-day headlines. We go Beyond the Hea...
Episodes
20 of 520 episodesWhat are Saudi Arabia's options as Houthi attacks escalate?
From Riyadh to Taiz, it has been a week of tragedy. While Saudi Arabia faces a wave of deadly attacks by the Houthis, hundreds of thousands...
Gaza ceasefire: a year of stalled promises
When the Gaza ceasefire came into effect a year ago, Palestinians in the enclave hoped that they could start rebuilding their lives. The tru...
What happens next after US withdrawal from Iraq?
The US withdrawal from Iraq this week marked a major milestone, as its anti-ISIS mission officially came to an end. The government in Baghda...
Barham Salih on why the refugee crisis is a global responsibility
The number of people forced from their homes by war, violence and persecution continues to grow, while the international system created to p...
How did the Houthis become so emboldened?
An escalation of attacks on Saudi Arabia by the Houthi rebels in Yemen, and the group’s seizure of Yemen’s western coast, comes at a critica...
What will UK sanctions against Israeli settlements change?
The UK’s decision to ban imports from illegal Israeli settlements, and impose sanctions on entities that are used to build them, has put new...
Can Hezbollah survive without money?
When the US announced it was imposing new sanctions on Iran late last month, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the aim was to sever ever...
What’s behind the Israel-Turkey power struggle in Syria?
Israel has been attacking parts of Syria since the fall of the Assad regime and carrying out incursions into the country’s south under the p...
The compounded burdens weighing down humanitarian work
In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, Mercy Corps CEO Tjada McKenna joins host Nada AlTaher in conversation about the challenges facing h...
How cheap weapons are changing the balance of military power
The US-Iran war has highlighted how rapidly modern warfare is changing, with drones and other relatively inexpensive technology playing an i...
What do the Houthis stand to gain by escalating now?
The Houthis had mostly stayed out of the Iran war. But in recent weeks they have started attacking ships in the Red Sea, as well as Saudi-li...
The cost of occupation: How Palestine's economy has been pushed to the brink
Since October 2023, entire industries in Gaza have been wiped out and poverty has increased. In the occupied West Bank, businesses are strug...
What the US-Saudi strikes on Iran-affiliated militias in Iraq reveal about the wider war
It has been five months since the US and Israel launched their war with Iran, and the conflict has never really been contained. Bahrain, Kuw...
Can Lebanon find a winning formula in peace talks with Israel?
US President Donald Trump pledged his support for Lebanon this week during a visit to the White House by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. A f...
Why has the US-Iran agreement not been enough to end the war?
The interim agreement aimed at ending the war between the US and Iran has fallen apart barely three weeks after it was signed. Iran has resu...
What’s at stake for foreign powers battling for influence in Syria?
On the sidelines of an eventful Nato summit in Ankara, US President Donald Trump was sitting next to his Syrian counterpart Ahmad Al Shara w...
Why are ceasefires not ceasing the fire?
The Middle East has been grappling with one conflict after another, leading to countless rounds of negotiations to end fighting. But even wh...
What's driving Iraq’s anti-corruption crackdown?
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Al Zaidi has conducted a bold anti-corruption campaign since taking office in May. One of his first moves was to ar...
The wins and losses of the Iran war
The US and Iran have signed their framework agreement to end the war. It comes after more than 100 days of fighting, economic and political...