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29th August 2011
Just three days after Syria's best-known political cartoonist, Ali Ferzat, was beaten up by the regime's thugs, President Assad issued a decree on Sunday to "reform" the country's media law.
This is the latest in a series of apparently futile "reforms" announced by the president in the midst of the… Read more
20th August 2011
This week the Libyan National Transitional Council issued its "Draft Constitutional Charter" – a sort of provisional constitution for the country in the immediate aftermath of the fall of Gaddafi.
The Project on Middle East Democracy lists some of its specific provisions here, but a more revealing… Read more
11th August 2011
Liliane Khalil, the Middle East's mystery journalist, has disappeared from Twitter – presumably having closed her account.
Meanwhile, the interviews she promised to give to "some newspapers and other news orgs" giving her side of the story haven't materialised, so perhaps that's the last we shall… Read more
10th August 2011
Liliane Khalil, the "veteran" Middle East journalist whose real identity is being questioned, appears to have had an earlier incarnation as Suzan Hadad, "a journalist located in Atlanta, Georgia".
Marc Owen Jones, the PHD student investigating the mystery, has discovered a tweet by Liliane earlier… Read more
6th August 2011
Mystery continues to surround Liliane Khalil, the "veteran investigative journalist" who last month became "North America bureau chief" for the Bahrain Independent and formerly held the title of contributing editor for the Bikya Masr website.
Earlier this week, questions were raised as to whether… Read more
6th August 2011
A man carrying a gun was shot dead around 1am on Saturday in Jeddah, at a checkpoint near the palace of Prince Nayef, the Saudi interior minister, according to the official Saudi news agency.
Details are still scarce, but – rightly or wrongly – some are suggesting it was an attempt to assassinate… Read more
5th August 2011
Seven per cent of Middle East bloggers surveyed for a Harvard University study say they have been arrested or detained during the last 12 months. Thirty per cent say they have been personally threatened, while 18% say their website or online account was hacked or attacked.
The study, by Harvard's… Read more
4th August 2011
The turmoil in Syria is threatening to spill over into neighbouring Lebanon. On Tuesday night, a small group of protesters holding a vigil outside the Syrian embassy in Beirut were attacked by pro-Assad thugs (see video above).
"It was all planned. They came, started chanting for Bashar and then… Read more
3rd August 2011
Back in April, an article carrying the by-line Liliane Khalil appeared on various websites. It described the activities of a group of Libyan rebels who were purportedly tweeting from the conflict zone under the collective name "OperationLibyia" [sic] and related a touching story that one of them –… Read more
30th July 2011
Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Bahrain on Friday, protesting at the outcome of the government's "national dialogue" which they say will not deliver far-reaching reforms. For news reports, see al-Jazeera, the Daily Star and the Financial Times.
The dialogue – widely viewed… 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
