News stories by Annabell Van den Berghe

ERBIL, Iraq, Oct 07 (IPS) - "We had ten minutes to leave our hometown," says 33-year-old Kamal Faris who, together with his entire family, was forced to flee the threat of Islamic State (IS) fighters approaching his village.

CAIRO, May 29 (IPS) - With a result already known before the race started, many did not even bother heading to the polling stations and the streets in Cairo were unusually empty during the election process that ended Wednesday, just like the ballot boxes.

CAIRO, Nov 14 (IPS) - Nihal Saad Zaghloul is an Egyptian woman in her late twenties. Like other young women, she faces the daily risk of sexual harassment on the streets of Cairo. But Egypt's revolution made her realise that people can unite and that she can make a difference.

ZAATARI CAMP, Jordan, Nov 06 (IPS) - Amani has just turned 22. Two months ago she fled from the civil war in Syria and left her house in capital Damascus. After a dangerous nightlong trip she arrived at Zaatari, the refugee camp just over the border in Jordan, where her parents and two sisters had already lived for over a year.