Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei’s relationship with his closest superpower ally, Vladimir Putin, has been going through a complicated patch. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has also struggled to retain Russian affections while not burning his bridges with NATO states.

With scenes of shocking brutality, Israel has yet again succeeded in setting Jerusalem ablaze, with provocatively heavy-handed policing around Al-Aqsa Mosque at a time when this holy city is the focus of worship for festivals of three global faiths.

Elections represent a contract between a nation’s people and the governing classes; the people have their say, and bestow a mandate to govern upon those they select. However, in some states this fundamental social contract has been broken beyond repair.

Wherever I am in the world, people tell me they simply no longer know what sources of information to believe. So much of the information we are bombarded with is politicized propaganda that it’s easy to end up buying into, whatever version of reality we’d like to believe.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Tehran suddenly feels liberated to embark on its own escalations targeted at the US, Iran’s opponents in Iraq, and perhaps Israel. No fewer than 12 ballistic missiles were unleashed on Sunday against sites near the US Consulate in Irbil.

What would be at stake if Tehran committed itself to a real peace deal?

When Saudi Arabia banned the import of Lebanese produce in April because these shipments were being abused to smuggle narcotics into the Kingdom, Hezbollah found itself with a problem.