The Mongol sacked Baghdad in 1258 and there was further pillage of this city by the Turkic conqueror Tamerlane in the following century. In less than a century, the Mongol conquerors themselves converted to Islam, and Islamic power resurged in Turkey and India after being dislodged from the Arabian heartland.... More

　　World War II 　　In accordance with its treaty of alliance with Britain, Iraq broke off diplomatic relations with Germany early in September 1939 and during the first few months of World War II had a pro-British government under Premier General Nuri as-Said. In March 1940, however, Said was replaced by... More

　　Albania today: 　　Today Albania is surrounded by Italy, Greece, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. Almost 4 million Albanians live in the Republic of Albania. Another 2 million live in Kosova and an additional 700,000 in Macedonia. Adding up the number of people scattered in the territories, there are an estimated 6.5... More

　　Geographical facts: 　　Albania (Albanian Shqipëria, “Country of the Eagle”), is a republic in southeastern Europe, and it is officially known as the Republic of Albania. 　　Albania lies along the northwestern edge of the Balkan Peninsula, with a total area of 28,748 sq km (11,100 sq mi). The greatest distance from... More

　　There may have been a period when all roads led to Rome, but for the Palestinian people, all roads lead to checkpoints. The latest checkpoint Palestinians find themselves at is not manned by Israel but rather the ostensible mediator of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, the Quartet (which is comprised of... More

　　Bosnian Muslim and Croat leaders have voiced disappointment at the International Court of Justice's decision to clear Serbia of genocide in Bosnia, while Serbs have expressed relief at the verdict. 　　The highest UN court said Serbia had not planned or carried out in the 1995 Bosnian Serb massacre of 8,000... More

　　The debate on legalizing polygamy has returned to Kyrgyzstan. The issue has come before the parliaments of all the Central Asian states -- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. 　　Polygamy is practiced in all parts of Central Asia. For centuries Islamic law guided how societies in this region behaved and... More

　　After more than 13 months of talks, Serbian and ethnic Albanian leaders have failed to reach a compromise on the future of the disputed province of Kosovo. 　　The two sides were discussing a UN proposal that offers the trappings of statehood, including a constitution, flag and national anthem, under a... More

　　Many ethnic Kurds and Turks hope that an ongoing investigation into an undercover organization may help explain hundreds of unsolved murders, disappearances and bombings which rocked Turkey in the early 1990s. 　　State prosecutors allege that a highly-secretive group - 'Ergenekon' - was responsible for many unsolved, high-profile killings in Turkey... More

　　Fayez Shweikh, one of Gaza's up-and-coming businessmen, shakes his head as he considers his mixed fortunes. 　　In the past year, he had significantly increased his household income by investing in a black-market, "tunnel" economy, which relied on smuggled goods siphoned through underground passages between Egypt and Gaza. 　　Israel has always... More

　　The deadly blast in Islamabad was a revenge attack for what has been going on over the past few weeks in the badlands of the North-West Frontier. It highlighted the crisis confronting the new government in the wake of intensified US strikes in the tribal areas on the Afghan border.... More

　　Prisoners are being summarily executed in the government's high-security detention centre in Baghdad. 　　Like all wars, the dark, untold stories of the Iraqi conflict drain from its shattered landscape like the filthy waters of the Tigris. And still the revelations come. 　　The Independent has learnt that secret executions are being... More

　　Somali pirates have accused European firms of dumping toxic waste off the Somali coast and are demanding an $8m ransom for the return of a Ukranian ship they captured, saying the money will go towards cleaning up the waste. 　　The ransom demand is a means of "reacting to the toxic... More