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Fouad Makhzoumi, a Lebanese billionaire and former arms dealer, is at the centre of a political row in Britain after it emerged that one of his companies has donated £100,000 to the Conservative Party during the last four years.
But besides his support for the British Conservatives, he… Read more
The document above has been posted on the internet by several Egyptian bloggers, including Amr Salama and Wael Abbas. It appears to be the start of a four-page memo from the interior ministry, discussing plans for surveillance of Mohamed ElBaradei and his family by state security.… Read more
Seventeen years after Egyptian Islamists decided his religious views were suspect, Nasr Abu Zayd is still paying the price. Arriving in Kuwait last week with a valid visa, he was turned away at the airport on the orders of the State Security department.
He had been due to give two… Read more
After more than six weeks of fighting on its southern border, Saudi Arabia announced yesterday that it will suspend major operations against the Yemen-based Houthi rebels within the next few days.
"We are left with only a few infiltration attempts and sniper attacks, but the Saudi forces… Read more
A record number of people fleeing conflict, poverty and drought in the Horn of Africa have risked their lives crossing the Red Sea into Yemen this year. The total of more than 74,000 is a 50% increase on last year, according to the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR.
“The mixed… Read more
The results of elections to the Muslim Brotherhood's 16-member Guidance Bureau in Egypt are being interpreted as a victory for the conservative camp amid a growing rift with reformist elements.
The wing now dominating the movement is more focused on the religious aspects and is not in… Read more
Yemen's parliament yesterday urged the government "to enhance the accuracy of its targets and avoid any error" when carrying out operations against "terrorists, insurgents and outlaw elements", the official news agency says.
The defence minister and the deputy prime minister responsible for… Read more
Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri sat face-to-face at a state banquet on Saturday with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad – whose regime has been widely suspected of assassinating his father.
Hariri's bridge-building visit to Damascus seems to have cautious support from a range of… Read more
Supporters of the niqab (face veil) have won the latest round in their long-running battle with the Egyptian authorities.
Yesterday, the Administrative Court annulled a decree by the education minister that banned students wearing the niqab from entering… Read more
Algeria is planning to introduce a centralised system for filtering (i.e. censoring) the internet. It is also proposing stiff penalties for anyone who circumvents the government's filtering, according to the Magharebia news website.
Algeria is one of the few Arab countries (… 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
