Blog archive all
4th July 2010
Writing in the Saudi-owned paper, as-Sharq al-Awsat, Hussein Shobokshi discusses the recent visit to Syria by senior figures from leading American IT companies: Microsoft, Dell, Cisco Systems and Symantec.
He points out that the ability of these companies to do business in Syria is at present… Read more
3rd July 2010
Tension continues in northern Yemen, where a truce was called in February between the government and the Houthi rebels.
The interior ministry said yesterday that rebels attacked the home of Ibn Aziz, a tribal leader in Harf Sufyan, killing three people. Ibn Aziz, who survived the attack, is a… Read more
2nd July 2010
The Muslim Brotherhood (known in Arabic as "al-Ikhwan") is engaged in a rather curious project to duplicate some of the world's most popular websites with its own "Ikhwan" versions.
So far, these include Ikhwan Wiki (resembling Wikipedia), Ikhwan Tube and Ikhwan Web Tube (YouTube lookalikes), … Read more
1st July 2010
The UN secretary-general is due to issue one of his periodic reports on the implementation (or not) of Security Councilresolution 1701 which brought a ceasefire in the 2006 conflict with Israel.
Hizbullah is clearly not in full compliance (it was supposed to be disarmed) but neither is Israel.
In a… Read more
1st July 2010
A new and potentially important development in the case of Khaled Said, the 28-year-old Egyptian who died after being brutally beatenby police. The district attorney in Alexandria has now ordered two officers from Sidi Gabr police station – Mahmoud Salah Mahmoud and Awad Ismail Suliman – to be… Read more
1st July 2010
The 2010 Failed States Index – an annual collaboration between Foreign Policy and The Fund for Peace – lists four Arab countries in the "critical" category.
Somalia, once again, is the world's most failed state, with Sudan in third place, followed by Iraq (7) and Yemen (15 - three places worse… Read more
30th June 2010
A 38-year-old Eritrean woman was shot and killed by Egyptian border guards while trying to cross into Israel, Reuters reports. Two other women and a child were arrested.
According security sources, the dead woman was shot three times – in the stomach, right arm and left hand.
More than 60 migrants… Read more
30th June 2010
Around 25 men arrested at gay parties in Syria earlier this year are expected to go on trial shortly, according to a note posted on Facebook. Seventeen of them are facing three to seven years in jail for "unnatural acts" while others are likely to be tried for drugs offences.
The Gay Middle East… Read more
29th June 2010
Three people in their twenties were arrested in Lebanon yesterday for allegedly defaming President Michel Sleiman on Facebook.
A warrant has been issued for the arrest of a fourth person,AFP reports:
The justice ministry said the case met the requirements for a slander and defamation lawsuit,… Read more
28th June 2010
Writing for the Foreign Policy website, Soha Abdelaty discussesthe death of Khaled Said in the context of Egypt's semi-permanent (and recently renewed) emergency law:
In many ways, the case of Khaled Said is tragically symbolic of everything that is wrong with the state of emergency under which… 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
