David Blair's Blog, page 20

Greek energy minister rules out deal with creditors who want 'pound of flesh'

Panagiotis Lafazanis, a member of Alexis Tsipras's government, says the Left Platform wing of Syriza will not accept being 'exterminated inside the eurozone'

Greek PM faces revolt from his own Left-wing over bail-out crisis

While Alexis Tsipras struggles with the demands of the troika in Brussels, disaffected supporters in Athens are turning on him, accusing the government of selling out workers and urging it to suspend payments to the IMF

Kos on the brink as Mediterranean refugee crisis meets Greek debt disaster

While Italy remains the target destination for tens of thousands of refugees departing from North Africa, almost as many migrants are now making landfall in Greece

Hassan Rouhani's glaring failure to curb human rights abuses in Iran

Analysis: the trial of Jason Rezaian, the Washington Post journalist, shows how the president lacks the power - or perhaps the will - to improve Iran's human rights record

Osama bin Laden considered leaving Abbottabad refuge

Five months before his death in a US commando raid, the al-Qaeda leader wanted to find a new hiding place

Bashar al-Assad's airmen laugh as they drop barrel bombs on fellow Syrians

New footage obtained by al-Jazeera, shot on board a Syrian military helicopter, contradicts the dictator's claim that his forces have never used barrel bombs

Ukraine could ask for missile defences amid Russia threat

Russia and Ukraine exchange hostile rheotric as Kiev does not rule out consulting on whether to ask for missile defences

Israel's relations with US 'in crisis', says Shimon Peres

Israel must overcome a ���crisis��� in relations with America by rebuilding its bipartisan support among Democrats and Republicans, Shimon Peres said on Tuesday.

Britain sends 85 troops to train Syria rebels

The British Army is joining a US-led effort to train 5,000 Syrian insurgents a year in camps in Turkey and Jordan

Has America lost the Middle East?

One leader in the Middle East is openly estranged from the White House ; another tactfully avoids meetings with President Barack Obama. A certain Arab king chooses to attend the Royal Windsor Horse Show rather than accept the hospitality of the commander-in-chief of the superpower that guarantees the security of...