Ahmad Hamad al-Tammimi used to live in the village of Quba. Before Iraq descended into sectarian war it was home to around 700 families. The vast majority were Sunnis. Tammimi, spiritual head of Diyala province’s Shias and a follower of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s most important religious leader, was the imam at the local mosque.

In a small Berlin laboratory, Robert Hermes is testing instruments that would do credit to a James Bond villain. He has metal probes, giant syringes and a set of electrodes that would embarrass an Abu Ghraib jailer. This fearsome collection has a benign purpose, however, for Hermes intends to use it to save the world’s most endangered large mammal:

The five tourists kidnapped in Ethiopia were sighted on Saturday in an Eritrean army camp, 20km from the border between the countries. The sighting, in a camp near the village of Ara-Ta, confirms that the Britons are being held by Eritrean soldiers and not local people and suggests there has been a dramatic escalation in tensions between Eritrea and Ethiopia.

The woman known as the Oprah Winfrey of the Middle East has fled to London in fear for her safety amid a row over allegations that actresses were paid to pretend they were prostitutes on her television show. Dr Hala Sarhan is believed to have left Egypt aboard the private jet of Saudi billionaire Al-Waleed bin Talal when it became clear that the government wanted her arrested.