by Peter Smith

Ukraine’s tangled political history with Russia has its counterpart in the religious landscape, with Ukraine’s majority Orthodox Christian population divided between an independent-minded group based in Kyiv and another loyal to its patriarch in Moscow.

But while there have been appeals to religious nationalism in both Russia and Ukraine, religious loyalty doesn’t mirror political fealty amid Ukraine’s fight for survival.

by Yvonne Ridley

In Scotland, when someone is on shaky ground or skating on thin ice they are said to be hanging by a "shoogly peg". That is exactly where Israel has found itself over the crisis in Ukraine as the hypocrisy of Tel Aviv and its Zionist allies is exposed for the whole world to see.

by Muhammad Hussein

Ever since the fall of the Soviet Union and that bastion of communism just over thirty years ago, the United States and the western world have still not lost their fascination with that old rival superpower. Throughout the three decades as a proudly interventionist force with near-total supremacy on the world stage, Washington – along with its allies – just could not bring itself to look away from Moscow.

by Dr Mada Al-Fateh

According to Ali Shamkhani, the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, the task of the Iranian negotiator in the new round of nuclear negotiations which began on 7 February is limited to lifting sanctions. His tweet to that effect pre-empted the talks in Vienna. This has been confirmed by a number of other Iranian officials, who sent a clear message that any solution must start from the sanctions issue.

by Haifa Zangana

Given that citizens were being humiliated in most countries year in and year out, the UN decided in 2007 to mark 20 February annually as the World Day of Social Justice, under the slogan of "social justice and a decent life for all". It was a slogan proposed by the Union of Russian Workers.

by Dr Amira Abo el-Fetouh

Since former KGB officer Vladimir Putin rose to power in Russia in 2000, he has dreamed of recreating the Soviet Union with its political and military influence, and rivalry with the US.

by P. K. Niaz

India's reputation as the world's largest democracy and a country that upholds secular values has been eroded ever since the right-wing Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept into power in 2014. Several moves by the BJP government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi seem designed to change the secular and democratic fabric of India into that of a purely right-wing Hindu nation.

by Motasem A Dalloul

US President Joe Biden announced last Thursday that the leader of Daesh, Abu Ibrahim Al-Hashimi Al-Qurayshi, 45, had been killed. Al-Qurayshi led the terrorist group for over two years, and was killed by the US military.

Speaking proudly at the White House, Biden said that the operation to kill the Daesh leader in Idlib near the Syrian-Turkish border was "successful". US forces, he insisted, had rid the world of a "major threat".

by Dr Amira Abo el-Fetouh

Few Muslims, I imagine, would have wished for Saudi Arabia to "modernise" and reach the condition that it is in today in terms of changing its identity and culture.

by Nasim Ahmed

Israel has long relied on its much-vaunted hasbara to conceal the reality of its domination of Palestine and subjugation of its people. Propaganda in short, the hasbara industry has been an invaluable tool in shaping the narrative and how it is viewed in the West, where the perception of Israel as a democracy facing a never-ending threat to its existence has been effectively used to justify all manner of human rights abuse and violations of international law.

by Dr Adnan Abu Amer

Israeli parties have witnessed successive developments recently, including the likelihood of a political explosion following a possible deal with Leader of the Opposition and head of the Likud party, Benjamin Netanyahu. This will have a direct impact on the party itself, and on the government, with the possibility that the government coalition may collapse. In addition, the Likud is expected to start a battle for finding a successor for Netanyahu, and prominent right-wing figures may try to lead his parliamentary bloc.

by Osama Gaweesh

Many human rights organisations, political activists and reports point out unambiguously that the people of Egypt have lived under a brutal police state since the 2013 military coup. From Human Rights Watch to the Arab Centre in Washington DC, it has been made crystal clear that Egypt has become a dark and terrifying place for its people, especially political activists.