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By: Brian Whitaker
The idea that suicide bombers are insane or religious fanatics is challenged by some controversial new research that has been reported over that last few days in a variety of publications, from  Yale Global in the US to the Daily Star in Lebanon and the Daily Times in… Read more
By: Brian Whitaker
The Israeli human rights organisation, B’Tselem, today issues itsfindings on the number of Palestinians and Israelis killed during Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. The figures, which it says are the result of “months of meticulous investigation and cross-checks” sharply conflict with those… Read more
By: Brian Whitaker
The head of Egypt’s first independent trade union, Kamal Abu Eita, was questioned by a prosecutor yesterday and could face charges “of disseminating false information and defaming the reputation of the country’s state-controlled union leaders”. Abu Eita was one of the founders of the… Read more
By: Brian Whitaker
Socotra, Yemen’s exotic island outpost in the Indian Ocean, witnessed its first-ever riot on Sunday when hundreds of people took to the streets protesting about “an acute shortage of wheat and flour”. The Yemen Post says they hurled stones at one of the Economic Corporation's… Read more
By: Brian Whitaker
Debate about the possible appointment of Egypt’s culture minister,  Farouk Hosni, as head of Unesco has centred mainly on his remarks last May about burning Israeli books (for which he has since apologised). But his appointment is also controversial in Egypt, for different reasons.… Read more
By: Brian Whitaker
A letter from President Obama confirming US support "for the unity and security of Yemen" was delivered to President Salih on Saturday, according to the official news agency, Saba. The letter allegedly promised "an initiative to support Yemen to face all its development obstacles and… Read more
By: Brian Whitaker
A few more details have emerged about the case of Hassan Shehata, whose arrest I wrote about last month in connection with the harassment of Egypt's tiny Shia minority. AP reports that the prominent cleric and 12 others have been accused of receiving funds from Iran for… Read more
By: Brian Whitaker
While the Houthi conflict dominates the news from Yemen there’s a risk of other issues being ignored. One that certainly should not be ignored is corruption, and last week Alistair Lyon wrote an excellent report about it for Reuters AlertNet. As Lyon notes, “Corruption is rampant in Yemen… Read more
By: Brian Whitaker
A Facebook campaign, "We all together support the Sudanese journalist Lubna" has so far attracted more than 6,000 supporters. Lubna Hussein is due to go on trial in Khartoum on Monday, charged with wearing "indecent" clothing – namely, trousers. If found guilty she will probably be… Read more
By: Brian Whitaker
The Yemeni government announced yesterday that it "does not view any objection" to suspending military operations against the Houthi rebels if the rebels will do the same. The rebels appear to have responded positively. The "suspension" offer came into effect at 9am on Friday, with… Read more