Blog archive all
26th December 2010
Protests in Tunisia spread to the capital, Tunis, yesterday when human rights activists, trade unionists and students held a demonstration in the Place Mohamed Ali in solidarity with the people of Sid Bouzid. The nawaat.org website has videos and photographs.
Meanwhile, it is reported (via… Read more
25th December 2010
A teenage protester was shot dead by police yesterday as rioting continued in Tunisia.
Demonstrators in Menzel Bouzaiene reportedly set fire to three police cars, a train locomotive, the local headquarters of the ruling Constitutional Democratic Rally party and a national guard post.
The interior… Read more
24th December 2010
Following an "incident" in the town of Sid Bouzid, Tunisia issued a statement to clarify "the groundless rumours spread by certain sides". It said:
"The matter has to do with a procedure carried out by the city of Sidi Bouzid’s municipal regulations services, as part of their ordinary… Read more
22nd December 2010
An Egyptian cleric has issued a fatwa authorising the killing of Mohamed ElBaradei, the former head of the IAEA who is campaigning for reform in Egypt.
The fatwa, from Sheikh Mahmoud Amer, which is posted on the website of the Ansar al-Sunnah al-Muhamadiya, says:
"We, in Egypt, are a people that… Read more
21st December 2010
It has emerged that the four people attacked in Sana'a last week (and described rather vaguely by the US embassy as "foreign residents" of Yemen) were in fact working for the CIA.
Their vehicle, a Toyota Hilux pickup truck, had stopped near the Pizzaiola restaurant in the Hadda district around 8.30… Read more
21st December 2010
Egypt's state-controlled Dar al-Ifta has issued almost half a million fatwas this year, according to its annual report.
"The edicts pertained to modern-day issues, such as a widow’s in vitro fertilisation, fetal gender determination, abortions, artificial heart valves made of pig tissue, and real… Read more
20th December 2010
Yemen's southern separatists kidnapped an army officer near Habilayn (Lahej province) at the weekend – apparently as a bargaining ploy for the release of prisoners.
The officer, identified by the Yemen Post as Major Muhammad al-Khawlani and by AFP as Captain Mohammed Ali Abdullah Hadyan, is said to… Read more
19th December 2010
Saudi newspapers are continuing to portray Thursday night's rioting in the holy city of Madina as an outbreak of youthful vandalism. Meanwhile, police are claiming it was triggered by "an argument between teenagers during a football match".
Eight hundred people are said to have taken part in the… Read more
18th December 2010
As many as eight soldiers are reported killed in two separate incidents in southern Yemen.
Arriving on three motorbikes and in two minibuses, a group of armed men attacked a military checkpoint in the Shahara area of Zinjibar (Abyan province) around 4.30am on Friday with machineguns, grenades and… Read more
18th December 2010
An short news item in al-Masry al-Youm says that 13% of the Israeli army's civilian employees are Egyptians, "according to recent reports in the Israeli media".
I'm curious to know more but the report has no further information beyond saying that the Egyptian ministry of manpower estimates there… Read more
ARAB ART ONLINE: Susan Hefuna: Al Sabr Gamil (Patience is Beautiful) 2007. Ink stained on wood 140 x 170 cm. More information | Click to enlarge
