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26th May 2010
Another disastrous airstrike in Yemen aimed at al-Qaeda accidentally killed the deputy governor of Marib province along with his bodyguards yesterday.
The deputy governor, Jaber al-Shabwani, was reportedly "on a mediation mission to persuade al-Qaeda elements to hand themselves over to the… Read more
26th May 2010
Saudi employers have found a new way to dispose of Nepalese housemaids when they become surplus to requirements: by dumping them at the gates of the Nepalese embassy. Arab News has the details.
Posted by Brian Whitaker, 26 May 2010.
25th May 2010
A brief update on the case of the Filipina maid in Saudi Arabia who complained that she had been repeatedly raped by her employer over a period of three years.
Arab News reports that she will shortly be repatriated but the rape charges against her employer will be dropped.
Following a meeting at a… Read more
25th May 2010
Facebook now has 15 million users in the Arab countries and the number is growing rapidly, according to new research. The figure represents about 27% of all internet users in these countries and suggests that Facebook has become an important means for Arabs to communicate with each other. Facebook… Read more
24th May 2010
It's hard to imagine anything quite so damaging for the Netanyahu government right now as the release of official documents showing that Israel offered to sell nuclear weapons to South Africa during the apartheid era.
It's not just the confirmation that Israel does indeed possess such weapons (in… Read more
23rd May 2010
As part of Yemen's 20th anniversary "festivities" yesterday, President Salih announced an amnesty for all journalists convicted or facing trial for press offences, together with "all detainees held in connection with the Houthi rebellion in the far north ... and the rioting in some southern… Read more
23rd May 2010
The emo phenomenon has raised its head again in the Saudi city of Dammam. Ten girls were arrested by the religious police for wearing strange clothes and disturbing customers in a coffee shop.
They are said to have been dressed in dark colours and "trying to imitate men". DPA reports:
"The girls… Read more
23rd May 2010
An article by Khaled Hroub caught my eye. It's headed: "The west's hollow talk of Arab democracy".
Hroub's basic argument is that it has been "much easier in the post-colonial Middle East for the west to do business with undemocratic regimes". He's talking here about doing business politically… Read more
22nd May 2010
Today is the 20th anniversary of the unification of north and south Yemen (an event that I wrote about in detail in my online e-book, The Birth of Modern Yemen).
In 1990, the north-south union made a lot of sense and in principle it still does today, but because of the way unification was carried… Read more
22nd May 2010
Three of Egypt's most prominent human rights activists are due in court this morning, facing criminal charges of “insult, libel, blackmail and abuse of internet services”.
The three are Ahmad Saif al-Islam (of the Hisham Mubarak Law Centre), Gamal Eid (of the Arab Network for Human Rights… 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
