Lindsey Hilsum , International Editor

Kenya’s presidential election re-run , due in eight-days-time, is in trouble. The head of the election commission has said it is “difficult to guarantee a free, fair and credible election” after an official fled the country saying she feared for the safety of polling staff. The August election, in which President Uhuru Kenyatta was declared the…

After a five-month onslaught backed by US airstrikes, the Syrian Democratic Forces say they have taken full control of Raqqa from the Islamic State. The western backed troops drove IS fighters from their last holdouts this morning, freeing the remaining civilians who had been trapped inside. IS’s capital was one of the final bastions of…

Iraqi forces have marched into the centre of Kirkuk after seizing key installations from Kurdish forces, including an oil field and the airport. Despite a government order to avoid violence, some clashes have broken out, sending civilians fleeing the disputed city. Kirkuk has been controlled by the Kurds since 2014, but it’s officially part of…

President Trump has refused to certify the historic Iran nuclear deal,  while labeling the Iranian leadership as fanatical sponsors of terrorism. His long-awaited pronouncement concluded with the threat that if Congress can’t now improve the deal, it will, in his words, “be terminated”.This is despite International observers concluding Iran has been in full compliance with the 2015 deal,…

Idlib province in north-west Syria has faced an intensive bombing campaign conducted by President Bashar al-Assad and his Russian allies. Yesterday an airstrike on a market reportedly killed ten people, including two children. Following a military push by President Assad, backed by Russian airstrikes, he has regained control of half the country. The people of…

As the day has progressed, more of the names of those who were killed yesterday have been made public. The massacre has once again sparked calls among liberal commentators for tighter controls on firearms. But many of those who support President Trump refuse any compromise on gun regulation.

The crisis for the Rohingya refugees grows. Dozens are feared dead after they fled their homeland in Myanmar and their boat capsized off Bangladesh. Survivors said the boat which had been avoiding coastguard patrols at sea had been anchored off Inani beach, in the Bay of Bengal. It was within sight of land when rough…

It’s taken almost three decades of campaigning – but from next summer women in Saudi Arabia will finally get the right to drive. Until now, Saudi had the dubious distinction of being the only country in the world to ban women from driving – but the surprise royal decree has been welcomed by equal rights…

In Northern Syria, Kurdish and Arab forces have made major gains against the Islamic State in Raqqa, the capital of their purported Caliphate. The most significant Arab contingent fighting Isis comes from one of the largest tribes in the Middle East – the Shammar.

We report from Raqqa: It was the capital of their self-styled caliphate for three years, the base from where the Islamic State terrorised the Middle East and planned violent atrocities across Europe. But now Isis may finally be about to be driven out.

Syrian government forces have launched a new advance towards the besieged military airport in Deir Ezzor, in an effort to recapture the base from Islamic State militants. Russian and Syrian jets pounded the area overnight, targeting IS positions with more than 30 strikes.

Syria has accused Israel of conducting an overnight strike on a military base in Hama province, in the west of the country. A Syrian monitoring group claims missiles may also have targeted a chemical weapons manufacturing facility there.

It’s never happened before – a presidential election in Africa annulled by the courts. Today the Kenyan Supreme Court ruled that last month’s tense, but largely peaceful, presidential election has to be held again.

At least 26 Rohingya Muslims have drowned as they tried to escape from the violence in Myanmar. Officials said three rickety fishing boats sank in the rough waters off Bangladesh.

At least 18,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled the worsening violence in northern Myanmar over the last few days – many of them stranded in no man’s land on the border as they try to reach Bangladesh. Government troops have launched what they call ‘clearance operations’ against Rohingya insurgents, but both sides have accused each other…