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In Arab schools, the time allotted to religious instruction is far above the global average of 5%. In Saudi Arabia it is 28%, in Yemen 20%, in Sudan 18% and in Oman 17%. This is one of the factors that skew the curriculum, with the result that maths is virtually the only subject where the… Read more
Suspected al-Qaeda militants ambushed and killed three senior security officials along with several guards yesterday near the Saudi border in Yemen's south-eastern Hadramawt province. The dead included the chief of political security for Hadramawt, the regional security chief and the head of the… Read more
The Lebanese Shia organisation, Hizbullah, is on its highest possible state of alert, according to The National. Besides confirmation of this from an unnamed Hizbullah military commander, the paper notes signs of unusually strict security measures on the ground.
“In 20 years, I have never… Read more
Amid all the fuss about the Goldstone Report and accusations of anti-Israel bias at the Human Rights Council, another damning UN report – this time about Egypt – has attracted zero attention from the world's media.
The report, issued last month, is by Martin Scheinin, the… Read more
The UN's special rapporteur on modern forms of slavery, Gulnara Shahinian, is due to complete a two-week fact-finding visit to Mauritania with a press conference today.
Despite legislation against it, light-skinned Arab Muslims (bidanes) continue to own black-skinned haratines,… Read more
Last week I noted the publication of the first Arab Knowledge Report and said I would come back with more comments after taking a closer look.
Sadly, my first reaction was one of disappointment. The Arabist blog is right to say the report contains “a lot of turgid… Read more
You've probably heard of the butterfly effect – an idea in chaos theory where some small event, such as a butterfly flapping its wings, can trigger hurricanes, tidal waves and other cataclysms.
In order to avert such crises in the future, Dr Makhboul Rasmi, a scientist at Azhar hospital,… Read more
The first review of my book, What's Really Wrong with the Middle East was published today in the Jordan Times.
Writing in The National, Marc Lynch of George Washington University cautions against slamming the door on democratic currents within Islamist movements.
"Moderate Islamist movements across the Arab world have made a decisive turn towards participation in democratic politics over the last 20… Read more
A journalist who described President Salih as a "weapon of mass destruction" has been given a two-year jail sentence and banned from writing for two years by Yemen's special press court.
Munir al-Mawri, who now lives in the US and was tried in his absence, also questioned the… 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
