Blog archive all
21st December 2011
The collapse of the Assad regime was never going to be swift. Since the early days of the uprising last March, my feeling all along was that it wouldn't happen this year. And even if it were to happen tomorrow, the opposition is sill far from ready to take over.
Next year, though, is a different… Read more
20th December 2011
Syria finally agreed to the Arab League's "reconciliation" initiative on Monday. The fact that President Assad delegated the task of signing it to his deputy foreign minister, and that this happened on a day that brought the largest number of deaths since the uprising began – 114 according to… Read more
19th December 2011
With a new government sworn in and relative calm returning to the streets in Yemen, this seems an appropriate moment to take stock.
On Sunday, the Yemen Observer reported that sandbags and soil barriers were being removed as armed tribesmen, troops and armored vehicles withdrawn from parts of the… Read more
18th December 2011
It wasn't until 2003 that the UN's human rights body finally got around to discussing homosexuality for the first time – much to the horror of five predominantly Muslim countries (Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt, Libya and Malaysia). They staged a filibuster in order to block a resolution expressing… Read more
17th December 2011
Tracking down the ill-gotten gains of fallen dictators is rarely an easy task but there are hopes that a luxurious property in London, thought to be worth around $16 million, may provide a breakthrough in the case of the Gaddafi family.
Libya's new government is seeking legal ownership of the house… Read more
16th December 2011
First days of the Arab Spring: video of rioting in Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia, posted on YouTube, December 19, 2010
The great dam at Marib (in present-day Yemen) was one of the marvels of ancient Arabia, the centrepiece of a vast irrigation system that watered crops for a desert-dwelling kingdom. Its… Read more
12th December 2011
The approval of a "mini-constitution" by Tunisia's newly-elected constituent assembly has been largely overlooked by western media, along with the controversy inside Tunisia about its discriminatory content.
The 26-clause document, intended to pave the way for appointing a president and government… Read more
10th December 2011
I have written here before about the American public relations firm, Qorvis, and its shameful $40,000-a-month contract with the government of Bahrain to spruce up the kingdom's tarnished image. Now, though, a document filed by Qorvis under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (as required by US law… Read more
6th December 2011
The official Yemeni news agency reports a meeting between foreign minister Qirbi and Criag Jenness, director of the UN's Electoral Assistance Division.
It appears that Yemen is seeking "UN technical and logistical assistance" in the presidential election scheduled for February 21.
This is rather… Read more
5th December 2011
Razan Ghazzawi, a prominent Syrian blogger and rights activist, was arrested on Sunday while travelling to Jordan for a conference on freedom of expression.
One of her friends told Reuters: "She was arrested as she presented her passport to immigration at the Syrian border post of Nassib to cross… 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
