Tunisia's parliament has adopted a hotly disputed law giving amnesty to thousands of people linked to corruption under its former authoritarian regime.

SATURDAY

While the West does arms deals, doctors in Jordan try to help the people of Yemen suffering from the constant bombardment, writes Norma Costello.

Every day at 5:30am, an alarm clock awakens Ahmed Maher from his mattress below a stairwell at his neighbourhood police station in Cairo.

A leading Egyptian activist behind the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak has been released from prison after serving a three-year sentence for violating a ban on unauthorised protests.

Authorities across Europe are hunting a Tunisian man suspected of killing 12 people by driving a truck into a Christmas market in Berlin, as one of his brothers urged him to surrender.

The US president has been condemned for not intervening early and removing the Assad regime, but such military action was disastrous in Iraq and Libya, says Christopher R Hill     

Hundreds of thousands of Yemenis marched today in support of Shiite Houthi rebels and their ally, former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Ukraine’s belief it was forging closer ties with the West was shaken by Brexit, but it remains a vital ally on the frontier between democracy and autocracy writes Erik Berglof.

Not all countries in the Middle East aspire to a western-style democratic model and it is this misunderstanding of people’s needs that has led to the inexorable rise of IS, writes JP O’Malley.

Christopher R Hill says we may balk at the hyper-nationalism of North Korea’s regime, but nationalism is on the rise globally — just look at Donald Trump’s White House campaign

Syrian dictator Bashar Assad told a senior Tory that Russian president Vladimir Putin will not let him “lose”.

The island of Ireland may be seen as a “safe haven” destination for overseas visitors this year due to security concerns about other parts of Europe, a tourism chief has predicted.

Tony Blair has apologised for aspects of the Iraq War, sparking claims of attempted “spin” ahead of the Chilcot Inquiry findings.

British foreign secretary Philip Hammond has insisted he does not expect a British grandfather to be lashed nor a protester to be executed in Saudi Arabia.

EGYPT went to the polls yesterday.

A Tunisian coalition of workers, employers, human rights activists, and lawyers have won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan has confirmed that entities with ties to terrorist network al Qaeda have more than $1.2m frozen in several bank accounts here.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has come under opposition fire for not doing enough to help free Irish teenager Ibrahim Halawa from an Egyptian jail where he has now started a hunger strike.

Wealthy countries like to portray themselves as unfairly shouldering the burden of the world’s refugee population but this simply is not true, writes Éamonn Meehan

Tunisia’s prime minister said yesterday a leading suspect in a deadly museum attack on foreign tourists has been killed in anti-terrorist operations, as tens of thousands of Tunisians marched through the capital to denounce extremist violence.

Gunmen in military uniforms stormed Tunisia’s national museum yesterday, killing 18 foreign tourists and two Tunisians in one of the worst militant attacks in a country that has largely escaped the region’s Arab Spring turmoil.

IT is natural to hope that most people we meet on our journey through this ever-changing world are decent and humane and that they do not represent a threat of any kind. 

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has said she did not have the power to remove the citizenship or passports of Irish people engaged in fighting in the Middle East or Africa, or to prevent them from travelling.

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has said that if there is any evidence of Irish people funding terrorism, then the Criminal Assets Bureau will "follow the money".

Concern in Sierra Leone have buried thousands of bodies in the last few weeks from the ebola virus. Even if you hate the song — buy it, urges Dominic McSorley

The Justice Minister has said gardaí have already engaged with individuals who have returned to Ireland from Islamic State conflict zones.

Gardaí have already "engaged with returnees from the conflict areas" run by Islamic State, Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has confirmed.

Italy’s maritime search and rescue service has saved 3,500 migrants and found 19 corpses in the Mediterranean since Friday as thousands attempted to cross to Europe by boat over the weekend, the Italian navy said.

The issue of fracking will have to be addressed sooner or later.

Instead of hiding behind America’s military shield, Europe needs to spend on arms to protect its security interests, according to Nick Witney.

The right of people to choose their own governments is running into trouble. The unrest sweeping many nations shows democracy being overwhelmed by despotism and despair, writes Nicholas Wapshott

Turning the pages in Hillary Clinton’s new book, it is clear that this is a woman not about to rest on her laurels, and it seems she has her sights firmly set on the US presidency, reports Betty Browne.

UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon withdrew an offer for Iran to attend Syria peace negotiations yesterday after Tehran declared it does not support the Jun 2012 political transition deal that is the basis for the talks.

With stakes high and expectations low, Syria’s government and its opponents sit down face to face at an international peace conference this week for the first time – muscled to the negotiating table by foreign powers which fear the bloodiest of the Arab Spring uprisings may engulf the entire region in sectarian war.

With the US, the long-time global leader, seemingly weakened in recent times, the radical axis of Syria, Iran, and the Hezbollah may look to take advantage next year, writes Ehud Barak