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Saudi Arabia has moved a step closer to lifting its unwritten ban on female drivers.
It is reported that a committee of experts will look into "issues that have a social dimension and no legal basis [in Sharia]" that are currently dealt with by the courts. The issues they have in mind,… Read more
There's a woefully misleading report about Yemen from AFP this morning. It begins:
"Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh will stay in the United States beyond the election next month that will choose his successor ..."
Let's get this straight once and for all. The so-called election,… Read more
There have been interesting developments in the Saudi religious police (the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice) following the appointment of Sheikh Abdullatif al-Sheikh as its chief earlier this month.
Al-Sheikh is a religious scholar who specialises in women's… Read more
Another insidious myth is doing the rounds: that 55% of Syrians support president Assad. The figure was cited by Aisling Byrne in an article which I critiqued recently. Now, it has surfaced again in an article by Jonathan Steele for the Guardian.
While it is undoubtedly true that the… Read more
Alarmed by negative media coverage of its bloody repression, the government of Bahrain embarked on an Israeli-style hasbaracampaign earlier this year, hiring – at great expense – an assortment of western public relations firms, "reputation management" consultants, etc, to whitewash… Read more
Denying the authenticity of the Syrian uprising is a central plank of the Assad regime's propaganda message – that the whole thing, as the official news agency put it recently, is a "Zio-American" plot.
To anyone who has been following events in Syria closely since last March, the regime… Read more
On Thursday Saudi Arabia began gradual implementation of a law that says shops selling women's underwear must be staffed by women. The move – widely portrayed as a reform – has divided feminists, with some supporting it and others opposing it.
Reem Asaad (interviewed here on NPR)… Read more
Syria began 2011 with its economy in relatively good health. A year later, it looks very different: everything is getting worse and will continue to do so until the uprising ends. As I have said before, the state of the economy will be a major factor in determining how long the Assad… Read more
With less than two months to go before President Saleh is due to formally leave office, other members of his family are seeking toconsolidate their influence in Yemen. Saleh's son, Ahmed, has been purging the Republican Guard of members suspected of having opposition sympathies, while his… Read more
There were numerous reports in the US media on Monday about President Saleh's proposed trip to the United States. This has put the Obama administration on the spot, since it risks being accused of condoning Saleh's crimes by allowing him in.
The official White House line at the moment is… 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
