Iran
WORLD
Iranian Heritage Under Threat From All Sides
As civil unrest spreads across Iranian cities in early January 2026 and President Trump renews warnings about military options, the country's 28 UNESCO World Heritage sites sit vulnerable to dangers from multiple directions.
BUSINESS
Prediction Takes Politics: Prophets and Polymarkets Collide
As 11 Peruvian shamans predicted Nicolás Maduro's fall on 29 December 2025, crypto traders were placing similar bets online—five days before U.S. forces extracted the Venezuelan leader to New York.
BUSINESS
Meloni in Manama: The Sakhir Declaration and Gulf Security
Missiles over Doha have turned the Sakhir Declaration from standard diplomacy into a survival blueprint, pushing the Gulf toward self-reliance and Europe ties.
WORLD
Yazd, Iran: Where Wind, Clay, and Faith EndureÂ
Tehran opens a metro station named for the Virgin Mary in Yazd. Another city in Iran takes quieter, deeper steps toward preservation.
BUSINESS
Iran’s Hidden Drone Ring: U.S. Sanctions Companies in China, Turkey, and the UAE
U.S. sanctions on companies supplying Iran’s drone program hit firms in China, Turkey, and the UAE—disrupting trade, finance, and supply chains.
Popular
France’s Trust Crisis Moves Upward
Three stories in a single week, a murdered child, a pop icon charged with rape, and a former mayor appealing his blackmail conviction, are not the same scandal but they are feeding the same mood in France.
Trump’s Iran Whiplash: Oil Markets and Public Sentiment
On the day Trump threatened to bomb Iran and seize its oil, he cancelled all planned strikes and sent Vance to Europe for a peace signing.
Iran and Lebanon Bind Their Fates Again
Iran's bond with Lebanon is not a side alliance but one of the central hinges of the regional conflict, and Israel's latest strikes on Lebanese territory are making that clear again.
Kushner Sazan Resort Pits Luxury Against Conservation
Albania's planned Kushner-backed resort is turning a protected coast into a test of how far tourism-led development can override environmental law, anti-corruption institutions, and public trust at once.
UAE Prisoner Swaps Are Building a Post-War Stake
Since 2022 the UAE has mediated 24 prisoner exchanges between Russia and Ukraine, and what Abu Dhabi built during the war will shape who benefits when peace comes.
