Qatar crisis deepens as Gulf sides stand their ground
- 22 June 2017
- From the section Middle East
![Men walk along Doha corniche (file photo)](https://webarchive.archive.unhcr.org/20170623045603im_/https://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/9A02/production/_96562493_gettyimages-1900780.jpg)
Three weeks in to the worst Gulf crisis in decades, questions are still being asked about why unprecedented diplomatic and economic sanctions were imposed on the state of Qatar by its powerful neighbours.
Now even Washington is expressing doubt.
"We hope the list of demands will soon be presented to Qatar and will be reasonable and actionable," was the diplomatically phrased message of US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
His polite nudging came a day after an unusually blunt statement from Washington over a delay in providing details that had "mystified" state department officials.
"At this point, we are left with one simple question: Were the actions really about their concerns regarding Qatar's alleged support for terrorism, or were they about the long simmering grievances?"a spokeswoman asked.
Read full article Qatar crisis deepens as Gulf sides stand their ground
The couple who want to rebuild their shattered city
- 21 April 2017
- From the section Magazine
![Marwa al-Sabouni and Ghassan Jansiz](https://webarchive.archive.unhcr.org/20170623045603im_/https://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/7317/production/_95736492_marwaghassan976.jpg)
Someday, what seems like Syria's forever war will end. Then the focus will shift to rebuilding a country shredded and scarred by conflict. A husband and wife, both architects, who witnessed their city's devastation are already thinking about how to restore it.
"It's not easy to rise from the ruins, it's not easy," reflects Marwa al-Sabouni.
Read full article The couple who want to rebuild their shattered city
Eta's violent campaign ends with hardly a whisper
- 10 April 2017
- From the section Europe
![View of graffiti in support of Eta in San Sebastian, Basque Country, northern Spain (09 April 2017)](https://webarchive.archive.unhcr.org/20170623045603im_/https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/10E1A/production/_95564196_mediaitem95564195.jpg)
In the final days before the Basque separatist group Eta gave up its guns, mediators spoke of "jitters" over whether this long-awaited moment would go according to plan.
And as we drove into San Sebastian, in the heart of Spain's Basque region, we were halted by road blocks and stern faced police in black uniforms, guns pressed against their chests.
Read full article Eta's violent campaign ends with hardly a whisper
Islamic State leaves trail of destruction in Syria's Palmyra
- 24 March 2017
- From the section Middle East
![](https://webarchive.archive.unhcr.org/20170623045603im_/https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/720x405/p04xscw6.jpg)
Fariha remembers the exact moment when Islamic State fighters shattered her life in Palmyra.
"It was a quarter to five in the morning. We were asleep and heard a knock on the door," she tells me as we sit on thin, grey mattresses in an abandoned school in Homs, 160km (99 miles) from her home.
Read full article Islamic State leaves trail of destruction in Syria's Palmyra
Is Saudi Arabia on the cusp of change?
- 13 February 2017
- From the section Middle East
![A Saudi woman wearing a Niqab gets into a taxi at a mall in Riyadh as a grassroots campaign planned to call for an end to the driving ban for women in Saudi Arabia on October 26, 2014](https://webarchive.archive.unhcr.org/20170623045603im_/https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/138BC/production/_94606008_3ebfdf7e-71e7-4f49-9c1c-c8d6ea640a5a.jpg)
Ask about change in Saudi Arabia.
The reply used to be: it will come, in its own way and in its own time, in the conservative kingdom.
Syria peace talks: Armed groups come in from the cold
- 23 January 2017
- From the section World
![A view of Astana's Rixos President Hotel, the place that will host Syria peace talks in Kazakhstan (22 January 2017)](https://webarchive.archive.unhcr.org/20170623045603im_/https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/118E0/production/_93740917_mediaitem93740896.jpg)
There's a new venue, new brokers, and new negotiators, but can Syria talks here in Astana resolve the old intractable problems?
"Everything has changed since Aleppo," says a Western diplomat who's been engaged on Syria for the past several years. "There's a new equation."
Read full article Syria peace talks: Armed groups come in from the cold
Aleppo siege: 'We are crying and afraid'
- 3 December 2016
- From the section Middle East
![](https://webarchive.archive.unhcr.org/20170623045603im_/https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/720x405/p04jzwx3.jpg)
A biting winter's chill seeps through embattled Aleppo as a city braces itself for what could be the worst months of a war approaching its sixth year.
Driving into government-controlled west Aleppo, through military checkpoints, a landscape of skeletal buildings is a monument to Syria's spiral into violence.
Can dealmaker Trump seal Middle East peace?
- 23 November 2016
- From the section Middle East
![President-elect Donald Trump pictured at Trump International Golf Club, on 20 November, 2016 in Bedminster Township, New Jersey.](https://webarchive.archive.unhcr.org/20170623045603im_/https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/C745/production/_92631015_trump.jpg)
A president-elect who prides himself on the "art of the deal" is about to confront a mire in the Middle East where deals are sorely needed, but so very hard to clinch.
Across the Middle East and beyond, many are pondering Mr Trump's declarations in the heat of the campaign, his still sketchy comments in sit-down interviews, and his first choices for his team in White House Inc.
Read full article Can dealmaker Trump seal Middle East peace?
Why is Russia engaged in Aleppo?
- 16 November 2016
- From the section Middle East
![](https://webarchive.archive.unhcr.org/20170623045603im_/https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/720x405/p04ggpjp.jpg)
Russia has launched a major new assault on what it calls "terrorist targets" in Syria as a brief calm around Aleppo is shattered by devastating air strikes.
Moscow says its first warplanes to take off from its aircraft carrier now stationed off the Syrian coast did not target Aleppo itself.
New UN chief Antonio Guterres will listen to the world
- 18 October 2016
- From the section World
![Syrian men remove a baby from the rubble of a destroyed building following a reported air strike in the Qatarji neighbourhood of the northern city of Aleppo (21 September 2016)](https://webarchive.archive.unhcr.org/20170623045603im_/https://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/FCB7/production/_91959646_mediaitem91959645.jpg)
Talk to people who know Antonio Guterres and you hear the same refrain - the newly elected UN secretary general is a very good listener.
"He has this ability to stand his ground on important issues but still make you feel he's heard and understood your point of view," reflects Ninette Kelley who now heads the New York office of the UN's Refugee Agency, UNHCR.
Read full article New UN chief Antonio Guterres will listen to the world