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27th October 2009
So. In "an atmosphere of repression" (© Human Rights Watch) president Ben Ali won the Tunisian election with 89.62% of the votes. That's a drop of almost five per cent on the 1994 result and 10 per cent less than in 1999 when he got a truly incredible 99.66%. If his support continues to decline at… Read more
27th October 2009
The king of Saudi Arab has "waived" a sentence of 60 lashes imposed on TV journalist Rozanna al-Yami, a government official announced yesterday. Ms Yami, 22, was thought to have been the first Saudi journalist sentenced to flogging in connection with her work.
The case arose out of an LBC TV… Read more
26th October 2009
Five Yemeni soldiers were killed and three wounded yesterday in an ambush in the southern province of ad-Dhali'. They were escorting an abulance that carried the body of another soldier who had been killed in the Houthi conflict in northern Yemen. Reports: Yemen Post and Xinhua.
Yahya al-Houthi, a… Read more
26th October 2009
Last year's "Facebook strike" in Egypt caused a good deal of excitement about the potential of online activism, though the strike itself was generally acknowledged as a failure.
In the latest issue of Arab Media and Society, David Faris takes along and detailed look at this attempt to mobilise the… Read more
25th October 2009
Tunisians are voting for a new parliament today and also re-electing Zine el Abidine Ben Ali for yet another presidential term.
Ben Ali, who is 73, has been in power for almost 22 years.
Three other candidates are contesting the presidency but it’s scarcely worth mentioning them. Two of these “… Read more
25th October 2009
There are fresh claims from Yemen that the Yemenia Airbus which crashed into the sea off the Comoros islands last June was accidentally shot down by a French missile.
Speculation that this was the cause first surfaced in Yemen and the Comoros a few days after the crash, but now Almotamar.net (a… Read more
25th October 2009
Plainclothes thugs attacked Ayman Nour, Egypt’s much-harassed opposition politician, and his contingent at a fish restaurant in Hurghada last night, Bikya Masr reports.
Ahmed Abdul Gawad, Nour’s media assistant, was severely beaten and wounded, Nour told Bikya Masr on Saturday evening in a… Read more
24th October 2009
The Tunisian authorities are taking their usual efficient measures to ensure that uppity journalists do nothing to cast a shadow over President Ben Ali's re-election tomorrow.
On Tuesday, Le Monde correspondent Florence Beaugé was refused entry and, after a night at Tunis airport, bundled back on a… Read more
24th October 2009
The Tunisian election campaign (parliamentary and presidential) has got under way in customary fashion. Magharebia has the details:
President Ben Ali delivered a speech to thousands of supporters. He outlined his platform and promised fairness in this year's elections.
Parties began placing… Read more
24th October 2009
A senior Yemeni army commander died in an ambush yesterday (presumably at the hands of Houthi rebels), according to an Associated Press report which cites unnamed official sources:
"The officials say Brig Gen Omar Ali al-Issa, who headed an infantry division engaged in the fighting in the Saada… 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
