Blood brothers - Saudi Arabia and the West

Its not just for show, as the bombing of Yemen illustrates, writes Vanessa Baird.

Madawi Al-Rasheed examines the prospects and limits of activism in the absolute monarchy.

The key facts you need to know about the country's people, environment, oil economy, human rights and more.

‘Rich Saudi’ are words that seem to belong together. But Paul Aarts and Carolien Roelants highlight another, mainly hidden, reality.

The quiet power of oil and money has for decades enabled Saudi Arabia to buy silence and influence. But not for much longer, predicts Nafeez Ahmed.

An interview with Julian Assange.

Saudi Arabia – birthplace of violent Islamic puritanism – is playing a dangerous game, writes Alastair Crooke.

Fiona Broom reports from Nepal on the scandal of the ‘orphanage industry’.

In this month’s podcast, our friends at the Tax Justice Network ask ‘is the US president really serious about tackling corruption in the finance sector?’

It’s clear that we will not achieve gender equality unless we work positively with faith communities, including with men and boys, writes Helen Dennis.

Mark Engler argues for acts of determination and sacrifice.

Peruvians head to polling stations across the Andean nation, Lucas Iberico Lozada reports.

They were arrested for organizing a bookstore discussion in the capital, Luanda. Marc Herzog reports.

Human Rights Watch has thrown its weight behind a challenge to Iran’s ban on women watching volleyball matches. Kelsi Farrington reports.

Who would have imagined that a tattooed heavy-metal musician would break the stale stand-off in Taiwanese politics? Richard Swift asks.

An Indian entrepreneur has a solution for some of the 21.6 million women who resort to unsafe abortions every year, writes Cristiana Moisescu.

Child miners are finding an unlikely escape from goldmines, through football, writes Rebecca Cooke.

Ayuba Ijai was held hostage for months by Boko Haram terrorists before government soldiers detained him on suspicion of being a Boko Haram member. Samuel Malik explains.

Pakistani Christians who are charged under the country’s blasphemy laws are living in hiding, Rizwan Syed reports.

Researchers from the Ocean Clean Up will place a 100-kilometre-long floating barrier off the Dutch coastline, Beulah Maud Devaney reports.

Praise, blame and all points in between? Your feedback published in the March 2016 magazine.

Closing our heart to suffering suppresses our humanity, writes Ruby Diamonde.

Pedro X Molina from Nicaragua with ‘Republican Gothic’.

Cartoon by Simon Kneebone.

The central African country's long sleep continues, says Ben Shepherd, but the clock is ticking.

Dario Sabaghi talks to Kholoud Waleed about her battle for freedom of speech in Syria.

Roberto Savio argues for a revival and re-engagement, before it is too late.

TTIP is both ludicrous and frightening, writes Chris Coltrane.

Polyp's latest cartoon.

Turkey’s president is one of the political class’s more humourless and intolerant specimens.

The author and reporter talks to Graeme Green about self-expression, dictatorship and the importance of a free press.

Cartoon by Marc Roberts

The Pearl Button, directed by Patricio Guzmán; The Survivalist, directed by Stephen Fingleton.

Like a Bird or Spirit, not a Face by Sainkho Namtchylak; De Montevert by De Montevert.

Where the Dead Pause and the Japanese Say Goodbye by Marie Mutsuki Mockett; This Is An Uprising by Mark Engler and Paul Engler; Bad News by Anjan Sundaram; Betty Boo by Claudia Piñeiro.

More reviews from the March 2016 magazine.