This Library Note provides a brief summary of recent developments in selected countries in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as a table of statistical information covering the whole of the region.
Debate on 13 July: Recent Developments in the Middle East (575 KB , PDF)
This Library Note provides background information in advance of the debate in the House of Lords on 13 July on the Middle East. It provides a brief summary of recent developments in selected countries in the Middle East and North Africa (Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel/Palestine, Libya, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen) as well as a table providing statistical information about the region as a whole, and details of the presidential elections in Egypt.
Debate on 13 July: Recent Developments in the Middle East (575 KB , PDF)
2025 marks the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day and Victory over Japan Day, events which in 1945 brought an end to the second world war. On those days 80 years ago, celebrations erupted across Britain. However, world leaders and domestic politicians were aware of the numerous problems still to be tackled, such as reconstruction, demobilisation and the legacy of the development and use of the atomic bomb.
Between the 1970s and 1990s, the Gaddafi-led Libyan regime supplied the Provisional IRA with weapons, finance and military training. This included shipments of the explosive Semtex, which was used in several bombings where a number of people died and many more were injured. Campaigners have called on the UK government to use Libyan assets frozen in 2011 to compensate victims. However, successive governments, including the current Labour government, have declined to do so, arguing it would break international law.
On 8 May 2025, the country will mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day, the end of the second world war in Europe. Many of the commemorations will take place in cemeteries where those who died during the conflict are remembered. This briefing focuses on the organisation behind these cemeteries, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. It looks at how the commission developed and recent work on one of its key principles: equality in death.
