Blog archive all
4th December 2012
Each day's news brings more reasons to believe the Assad regime's fall cannot be far away. Viewed individually these signs may not in themselves spell doom for the regime but collectively they do.
1. Withdrawal of UN and diplomatic personnel: The UN announced yesterday that it has … Read more
2nd December 2012
Here are key points (via AFP) from yesterday's parliamentary election in Kuwait. The parliament has 50 seats for elected members, plus six for unelected cabinet ministers.
Sunni Islamists down to four seats, from 23 previously.
Shia candidates won 15 seats – the largest number ever (al-Arabiya … Read more
1st December 2012
Kuwaitis were out on the streets again yesterday – thousands of them protesting against corruption and calling for a boycott oftoday's election, while others were merely trying to catch a glimpse of Kim Kardashian, the ubiquitous American publicity-seeker.
Judging by some of the "news" reports, Ms… Read more
29th November 2012
A Libyan militia is continuing to hold 12 allegedly gay men, despite saying it intends to hand them over to the Ministry of Justice.
The 12 were seized at a party last Thursday by vigilantes from the Private Deterrent Force – part of the Nawasi Brigade which is Tripoli's largest Islamist militia.
A… Read more
28th November 2012
European diplomats in Jordan think the EU is being too uncritical of King Abdullah, according to a new policy memo from the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).
"There is growing consensus among European diplomats in Amman that the reform process lacks meaningful substance," it says. "… Read more
27th November 2012
Dining companions: The king of Bahrain visits Sandhurst
Britain's top military academy, Sandhurst, held a banquet last week to honour its graduates from the Middle East. Prominent among the guests was King Hamad of Bahrain who once trained at Sandhurst (as did nine other members of Bahrain's… Read more
26th November 2012
There was a time when government media in the Arab countries could publish dishonest or misleading reports and expect to get away with it. Readers inside the country, having little access to information from outside, would be none the wiser.
That changed years ago with the arrival of satellite TV… Read more
25th November 2012
"The civil war in Syria may well be the last act in the story of the disintegration of the Middle East as we know it," Condoleezza Rice, who was US secretary of state under George W Bush, writes in an article for the Washington Post.
Considering that when Rice was in charge of the State Department… Read more
24th November 2012
In an effort to "instil discipline in the streets", Yemen's interior ministry has embarked on a controversial – and probably ill-fated – battle against unlicensed motorcycles, threatening to confiscate any that are used illegally. In the first week after the ban was introduced at the beginning of… Read more
23rd November 2012
It is exactly one year today since the report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) was published. The anniversary has brought a deluge of criticism from NGOs – all basically saying the government has done far too little during the last 12 months to implement the BICI's… 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
