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Fifteen men described as al-Qaeda fighters whose names are on the government's wanted list surrendered to the authorities in southern Yemen yesterday.
They gave themselves up following negotiations with tribal leaders in the area and the governor of Abyan province is quoted as saying that… Read more
In Egypt the state has a virtual monopoly on data, which effectively stops public debate about government decisions.
Read more at Comment Is Free ...
Posted by Brian Whitaker, 26 October 2010.
Saudi Arabia's supreme court has confirmed the death sentence on Rizana Nafeek, a Sri Lankan maid who was convicted of murdering a four-month-old child, Arab News reports.
Ms Nafeek was 17 at the time of the child's death and, as Amnesty International points out, Saudi Arabia is a… Read more
The motorbike assassinations of security officials continue in Yemen. AFP reports that a colonel in the intelligence service, Mohammed Abdel Aziz Bou Abess, was shot dead near his home in Mukalla (Hadramawt province) yesterday by two masked men on a motorcycle.
Such attacks, widely… Read more
A symposium was held in Beirut earlier this month under the auspices of the Florida-based International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association – basically aimed at promoting Lebanon as a "gay" tourist destination.
Some members of Lebanon's LGBT community were uneasy about it (to say the least… Read more
A group of Egyptian professors yesterday won an historic legal battle to have state security forces removed from university campuses – though it is doubtful whether the government will abide by the ruling.
Al-Masry al-Youm newspaper says human rights organisations welcomed the decision by… Read more
In what must surely be the least credible news of the day, a senior official of Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party
announced that Hosni Mubarak will be the party's candidate in next year's presidential election. Another six-year-term would take the ailing leader up to the age of 89… Read more
Once again, all the Arab countries are in the bottom two-thirds of the annual Press Freedom Index compiled by the Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF).
This year, tiny Comoros (not in the Middle East but a member of the Arab League) gets the highest ranking in 70th place (out of 178),… Read more
I have been looking around Saudi news websites for some mention of the court case in London yesterday where His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud was convicted of murderinghis "manservant", but I can't see anything in Arab News, the Saudi Gazette or al-Arabiya. If it… Read more
Following the attack on a privately-owned TV station in Kuwait on Sunday, Reuters reports that two members of the royal family have been called for questioning by the public prosecutor.
The station, Scope TV, has accused Sheikh Faisal al-Malik al-Sabah, who is Kuwait'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
