How the Magdeburg Christmas market attack will change Germany
Whatever motivated the perpetrator to do what he did, his actions were an attack on an intrinsic Western institution
Saudi arabia
Sunday
Thursday
The Saudi Arabia 2034 World Cup is a new low for Fifa
No one should be fooled by the claims that the tournament can accelerate change in the country
Saturday
The winds of change are blowing in Iran
Washington, Riyadh and Europe should be ready to make the best of an evolving situation
Thursday
Why play the Saudi anthem before an all-British boxing match?
For only the second time in my life, I went to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia last weekend. At least, it felt like I was in Saudi. I’m talking about the Anthony Joshua-Daniel Dubois fight at Wembley Stadium. Billed as the British version of George Foreman vs Joe Frazier, it was bankrolled by the Saudis and might as well have been taking place in Riyadh. The Master of Ceremonies was not Michael Buffer, then American ring announcer – although he was there and did say ‘Let’s get ready to rumble!’ – but His Excellency Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority. His moustachioed face, framed by a headdress,
Thursday
Why are these dead-eyed K-pop groups represented as some kind of ideal?
On Saturday, Made in Korea: The K-pop Experience began by hailing K-pop as ‘the multi-billion-pound music that’s taken the world by storm’. Unusually, this wasn’t TV hype. Last year, nine of the world’s ten bestselling albums were by Korean acts (the sole westerner being Taylor Swift). Even odder for people over 40, according to such reliable sources as Richard Osman on The Rest is Entertainment podcast and my children, South Korea has replaced America as the cultural centre of the Earth for many British teenagers. Korean youngsters are trained for pop stardom on an industrial scale But this global domination hasn’t come about by chance. Korean youngsters are trained for
Monday
Can Joe Biden really strike a deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia?
The Saudis have made it clear that normalization can only occur if the Palestinians are given a state
Friday
Joe Biden is running out of time in the Middle East
The president wants to show his own restive Democratic Party that he’s trying to end the war
Thursday
Is Saudi Arabia softening its booze ban?
The country is to get its first official liquor store. There’s just one catch
Friday
The real reason Netanyahu is opposed to a Palestinian state
The Israeli prime minister is consistent about only one thing: serving his personal and political interests
Tuesday
Why the West is worried about the Red Sea
What happens next is hard to predict
Friday
What if the Houthi airstrikes fail?
The case law on ‘shock and awe’ is that it rarely shocks enough to achieve immediate political results
Who are the Houthis?
Like many of Iran’s so-called proxies, the group has their own independent history
Tuesday
How dangerous is the Sunni-Shia schism?
In 2014, with the Middle East convulsed by the murderous, self-styled Islamic State, a Daily Mail reader wrote a letter to the editor which began: ‘Are you confused by what is going on in the Middle East? Let me explain…’ Aubrey Bailey went on to describe the dizzying complexity of diplomatic relationships thrown into turmoil: So, some of our friends support our enemies and some of our enemies are our friends, and some of our enemies are fighting our other enemies, whom we don’t want to lose, but we don’t want our enemies who are fighting our enemies to win… And all this was started by us invading a country
Sunday
Who will rebuild Gaza?
There appears to be some disquiet among US and EU leaders asking why they should foot the bill for reconstruction
Friday
Political Islam now commands the Middle East
In virtually every Middle Eastern country, Islamist movements of both Sunni and Shia varieties have unparalleled strength on the ground
Joe Biden’s Middle East diplomacy is a wreck
America has reverted to the George W. Bush-era approach towards containing Iran
Monday
‘The mask has slipped’ – Tuvia Gering on China, Israel and Hamas
43 min listen
When China brokered a historic detente between Saudi Arabia and Iran earlier this year, it seemed that a new phase in world history – and certainly in Chinese foreign policy – had opened up. Instead of the US being a policeman of the world, it was the rising power, China, that was stepping into that role. Whereas Chinese foreign policy had previously only really cared about promoting trade and silencing dissidents, it seemed that perhaps, now, Beijing was taking a more leadership role in global diplomacy and security issues. And yet the events of the last week and China’s response to them have shown that perhaps the country isn’t ready
Thursday
Britain must stand up against those who support Hamas
Don’t just say you stand beside Israel — show it. Treat these people as we did the supporters of ISIS
Saturday
Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel was meant to bring war
Terrorists entered towns and villages by foot, paraglides and vehicles
Wednesday
A Saudi-Israel peace deal would be a game-changer
The head of Mossad was in Washington in July to discuss plans