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Once again, all the Arab countries are in the bottom two-thirds of the annual Press Freedom Index compiled by the Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF).
This year, tiny Comoros (not in the Middle East but a member of the Arab League) gets the highest ranking in 70th place (out of 178),… Read more
I have been looking around Saudi news websites for some mention of the court case in London yesterday where His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud was convicted of murderinghis "manservant", but I can't see anything in Arab News, the Saudi Gazette or al-Arabiya. If it… Read more
Following the attack on a privately-owned TV station in Kuwait on Sunday, Reuters reports that two members of the royal family have been called for questioning by the public prosecutor.
The station, Scope TV, has accused Sheikh Faisal al-Malik al-Sabah, who is Kuwait's… Read more
An angry mob stormed a privately-owned television station in Kuwait on Sunday. The group, said to number at least 150, smashed windows and overturned furniture at Scope TV. About 10 people were reportedly injured.
The Kuwait Times says the station accused the attackers of being… Read more
The Yemeni authorities say they have arrested Saleh al-Raimi, who was wanted for financing al-Qaeda activities in Yemen. Raimi, a 33-year-old Yemeni living in Saudi Arabia, was captured at Sana'a airport on Friday when he arrived from the kingdom,according to the interior ministry.
Meanwhile,… Read more
Arab states account for almost half of the worst performers in the World Economic Forum's latest survey of the Global Gender Gap.
As in previous years, four Nordic countries – Iceland, Norway, Finland and Sweden – top the list.
The best-performing Arab country – the UAE – is ranked at number 103 (… Read more
Chile is a long way from the Middle East, perhaps in more ways than one. As I watched the rescue of the miners earlier this week, a question came to mind which has been niggling me ever since: What if the accident had happened in one of the Arab countries? How would the authorities have handled it… Read more
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is planning to form an army in Aden and Abyan with the aim of establishing "God's law", according to a recorded speech by its military leader, Qasim al-Raimi, which has been posted on the internet.
In the recording, he described the proposed… Read more
I won't say much about Ahmadinejad's visit to Lebanon, which is being extensively covered elsewhere. But I was delighted to see that Memri, the "media research institute" described by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman as an indispensable tool, has got another scoop.
Yesterday… Read more
In an article for Middle East Report Online, Mariz Tadros takes a detailed look at the current sectarian tensions in Egypt.
"For six weeks," she writes, "Egypt has been sitting on top of a sectarian volcano. Protesters, men and women, have been exiting mosques following prayers… 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
