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The killing of Ali Tounsi, chief of the Algerian police, has been reported briefly in the international media. He is officially said to have been shot dead in his office by a colleague in a fit of madness.
His alleged assailant – named in the Algerian press as Choaïb Oultache – had… Read more
Stories are circulating on the internet that a young Egyptian named Ahmed Mustafa is about to be court-martialled for remarks he posted in a blog.
There are not many details but it seems that he complained about someone being removed from a military college so that a rich kid could take his place.… Read more
No apologies for returning once again to the topic of Mohamed ElBaradei. A week after the former IAEA chief arrived in Cairo as a possible presidential candidate, Egyptian politics has become more interesting than at any time since the 1952 revolution.
I have said before that… Read more
Back in November I cautioned readers of this blog not to believe what they read on el-Koshary Today, which bills itself as "Egypt's most reliable news source". Its stories about crocodiles attackingthe Aswan Dam, the construction of a new Disneyland in Ramallah to "improve… Read more
With the suspension of hostilities between the government and the Houthi rebels in northern Yemen, this seems like a suitable moment for a brief update on the continuing separatist troubles in the south.
It is difficult to get an accurate picture because independent reporting of events in the south… Read more
An opinion poll highlighted by the Qifa Nabki blog shows strong popular support in Lebanon for abolishing confessionalism. Fifty-eight per cent are in favour, plus a further 10% who favour abolition but think the time is not right. Only 22% oppose abolition.
Interestingly (but not… Read more
It happens all the time and no one seems to care. Yet another foreign domestic worker has plunged to her death from a building, this time in Saudi Arabia.
Arab News says the unnamed 25-year-old Indonesian woman fell from a two-storey building "while trying to run away from her… Read more
It's intriguing that the first public figure Mohamed ElBaradei met after returning to Egypt was Amr Moussa, secretary-general of the Arab League, who has also been mooted as a possible candidate in next year's presidential election.
What did they talk about? Well, neither man is saying very… Read more
“I do not think we have a real civil society independent from the state ... If you are not somehow connected to the regime, they will not establish you.” These are the words of Abdullah al-Faqih, Professor of Political Science at Sana’a University, quoted in yesterday's Financial Times.… Read more
Discussion of censorship mostly focuses on the spoken or written word, while censorship of art and music tends to be sidelined. In the field of music, probably the most controversial genre – and the one most censored worldwide – is heavy metal.
Heavy metal has some enthusiastic followers in… 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
