Latest fromMiddle East

Al Qaeda leader's killing 'blessing and curse for Kiwi troops'
The death of Osama bin Laden will aid those who want New Zealand troops out of Afghanistan.

Editorial: Bin Laden's death symbolic victory for US
If there is a day that a 'war on terror' can end, it might have been yesterday.

Bahrain sentences four to death for killing policemen
A Bahraini court has sentenced four men to death for killing two police officers during the pro-democracy protests.

Britain revokes wedding invite for Syrian ambassador
Britain has revoked a royal wedding invitation to the Syrian ambassador because of violent attacks on protesters there.

Mutual love of rugby helps Key-Sarkozy talks
Pomp and ceremony joined with a mutual love of rugby in John Key's one-day visit to Paris.

Harsh crackdown on Shia worshippers in Bahrain
Sunni-Shia hostility in the Muslim world is likely to deepen because of the demolition of Shia holy places in Bahrain.

Memos show link between oil and Iraq invasion
New documents have raised questions over Britain's involvement in the Iraq war.

In search of change for peace
James Fergusson tells David Larsen that he is less a risk taker than someone who follows stories where they lead.

Goldstone says he won't seek Gaza report nullification
South African judge Richard Goldstone said yesterday that he did not plan to seek nullification of his highly critical United Nations report.

Tyrants' crude tools of power fail as era of classic security state ends
Oil states are, by their nature, undemocratic.The despots who have ruled the Arab world for half a century are not giving up without a fight.

Linchpin Arab state at crossroads
Through the cobbled alleys of Damascus' old city and beyond into the drab jungle of Soviet-style apartment blocks, nothing, it seems, misses the Syrian President's gaze.

<i>Gwynne Dyer :</i>Western allies driven by guilt
Gwynne Dyer examines the western coalition's motives for taking action against Muammar Gaddafi's forces in Libya.

15 dead in new clashes in southern Syria
Syrian police launched a relentless assault on a neighbourhood sheltering anti-government protesters, fatally shooting at least 15 in a pre-dawn operation, witnesses said.

Saga of many families
Simon Sebag Montefiore tells Stephen Jewell about writing ‘the greatest story ever told’ and why the history of Jerusalem is the story of the world.