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12th October 2016
What was meant to end in a swift victory for the coalition is rapidly turning into a protracted civil war with grave humanitarian consequences. The Saudi-led intervention has wreaked havoc on Yemen and inflamed sectarian rifts across the Gulf region.
Eight months after Saudi Arabia said its efforts… Read more
11th October 2016
Saudi Arabia has "privately accepted" that one of its coalition warplanes bombed a funeral in Yemen on Saturday, according to the BBC's security correspondent, Frank Gardner. Gardner's report appears to be based on a briefing from British government officials.
At least 140 mourners died in the… Read more
10th October 2016
The bombing has been "barbaric" and war crimes have "unquestionably" been committed. One especially repugnant kind of bombing is known, euphemistically, as the double tap: "They drop one bomb and then they wait for the aid workers to come out, civilian people pulling the injured from the rubble,… Read more
9th October 2016
Two airstrikes hit a large funeral gathering in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, on Saturday killing more than 140 people and injuring at least 525, according to the UN's humanitarian coordinator in the country. This was the worst single attack of the war so far and it is difficult to construe it as… Read more
6th October 2016
More details are emerging about the attack on a highly unusual "civilian" vessel which was severely damaged by Houthi fighters at the southern end of the Red Sea last weekend (see yesterday's blog post).
The Saudi-led coalition which is fighting the Houthis in Yemen insists that the vessel, painted… Read more
5th October 2016
Houthi-Saleh forces – the de facto government in the north of Yemen – have "warned" foreign ships not to enter the country's territorial waters without "prior authorisation from the competent Yemeni authorities".
The announcement, circulated by the Houthi-controlled Saba news agency on Monday,… Read more
3rd October 2016
The repressive Sultanate of Oman is to be honoured next month by an official visit from Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne. But one Omani newspaper will definitely not be reporting on the prince's trip: last week a court ordered the permanent closure of Azamn newspaper and sentenced… Read more
2nd October 2016
Egypt's Sisi regime arrested four more journalists last week and charged them with the catch-all crime of "publishing false news".
Harassment of the media has increased markedly in Egypt since Sisi seized power in 2013. Last year Egypt had more imprisoned journalists than any country apart from… Read more
30th September 2016
According to Islamic tradition the Prophet Muhammed once said: "Pay the labourer his wages before his sweat dries". But in the devout Gulf states that is one religious instruction employers are often content to ignore. Stories abound of workers being unpaid for months – and sometimes never getting… Read more
26th September 2016
Writing for the Independent last week, Middle East reporter Robert Fisk highlighted an event which he claimed "may prove to be even more dramatic than the terror of Syria's civil war".
The cause of his excitement was a conference held in the Chechen capital, Grozny, towards the end of August and… 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
