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Several decades after the last cinema in Saudi Arabia closed its doors to save the kingdom from sin, a new one is opening at a shopping complex in Dammam. Al-Hayat reports (in Arabic) that it has five screens and there will be separate showings for men and women. It will specialise… Read more
At a meeting this week Unesco finally decided to include falconryon its list of the world's "intangible heritage". The decision marked the culmination of a five-year effort by the United Arab Emirates, supported by 10 other countries, to win international recognition for… Read more
According to a Yemeni politician, the recent parcel bombs affair was part of "a suspicious plan for harming Yemen's sovereignty and its independence in preparation for imposing foreign agendas".
The remarks – from Salah al-Saiadi, secretary of the Yemeni Popular Democratic party (… Read more
The inhabitants of Arab countries – unlike Her Majesty's subjects here in Britain – are not generally expected to take an interest in the family lives of their rulers. In fact, it's a subject that ordinary Arabs, even if they do happen to be curious, are rarely permitted to know much about.
I was… Read more
The case of Ahmed Shaaban, the Egyptian teenager who died after being arrested by police in Alexandria, is now beginning to attract attention. The BBC and al-Jazeera have both reported the story. So far, the Egyptian media are generally being more… Read more
Yemeni warplanes attacked what are described as al-Qaeda hideouts in the Bani Dhabyan territory east of Sanaa yesterday, according to local reports (Yemen Post in English and Mareb Pressin Arabic).
Significantly, perhaps, the reported use of Yemeni air power comes in the midst of a… Read more
Six months after 28-year-old Khaled Said died while being arrested in Alexandria, there are claims of another death at the hands of officers from the same police station.
The family of 19-year-old Ahmed Shaaban say he was arrested along with several friends for… Read more
More information has emerged about Kareem Amer, the Egyptian blogger who remains in detention despite completing a four-year jail sentence last Friday.
The Cairo-based Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) says he was transferred from Burj al-Arab prison on… Read more
In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph today, the new head of Britain's armed forces, General Sir David Richards, says there will be no "clear-cut victory" against Islamist militancy, though it can be contained.
"In conventional war," he tells the paper, "defeat and victory is very… Read more
Writing in the Waq al-Wag blog, Gregory Johnsen refers to the case of eight men who were apparently arrested by mistake during a raid against al-Qaeda in Yemen. After almost two months in detention they have now been released, thanks to the efforts of a tribal sheikh.
Incidents like this are not at… 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
