30 years after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait the reverberations continue

It’s 30 years since Iraq’s army under Saddam Hussein invaded neighbouring Kuwait and changed the course of history. The crisis marked the start of the first Gulf War, as the United States under George Bush senior intervened to drive Iraq’s forces back across their own border.

Silicon Valley's Online Slave Market - full documentary

BBC News Arabic’s undercover investigation exposes the people in Kuwait breaking local and international laws on modern slavery, including a woman offering a child for sale. At the centre of this powerful investigative film is Fatou, a 16 year old in Kuwait City who has been there for nine months. We follow her rescue and journey back home to Guinea, West Africa and ask: what’s being done to control the apps promoted on Google, Apple and Facebook-owned Instagram?

Can OPEC still control the oil market?

Cartel members are debating whether to extend a deal to reduce output.

The discussion was held in Kuwait, but its outcome could affect the entire world.

Oil producing countries are considering further cuts in output to try and force prices higher.

Ministers from both OPEC and non-OPEC countries met in Kuwait City on Sunday to review progress on an agreement, made in December, to cut production for six months. 

They are due to meet again in April to decide if they want to extend that deal.

Kuwait, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates all expect further production cuts.

Kuwait: Class of 1990

Former classmates separated during Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990 reunite decades later.



On August 2, 1990, the Iraqi army invaded the emirate of Kuwait, which Saddam Hussein, the then Iraqi president, had declared Iraq's 19th province.

The occupation of Kuwait may have only lasted seven months, but the memory of it remains strong, not least in the minds of the children of that conflict.

At the end of the school year of 1990, students in an international school in Kuwait said their final farewells as they headed off for the summer holidays. Many of them would never meet again.

ISIL ideology: In the name of Islam?

Attacks in Tunisia and Kuwait further complicate the complex combination of religion, conflict and extremism.


The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has claimed responsibility for the attacks in Kuwait and Tunisia, which killed at least 65 people.

Tourists were gunned down as they relaxed on a beach, while worshipers were killed in a suicide attack on a Shia mosque.

The attacks have prompted more promises from the international community to fight what's referred to as the "scourge of terrorism".

ISIL had earlier called on followers to turn the month of Ramadan - considered holy by Muslims – into "calamities for non-believers".

But is religion at the heart of the armed group's violent ideology? Is the end game more about politics and power?

And how will this shape the fight against ISIL's message, its violence and its broader ambitions?