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4th February 2019
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Proposed constitutional changes in Egypt, announced at the weekend, could keep President Sisi in power until 2034.
Sisi is currently in the second of two four… Read more
1st February 2019
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In Saudi Arabia it's not uncommon for a man to divorce his wife without telling her. This isn't because Saudi men are especially forgetful – it's a way… Read more
22nd January 2019
Reverberations from a controversial pop concert are continuing in Egypt, more than a year after the event. It was in September 2017 that a performance by the Lebanese band, Mashrou' Leila, in Cairo triggered a moral panic. The band's lead singer is openly gay and several fans in the audience waved… Read more
21st November 2018
A Russian-led move to restrict investigation of chemical attacks in Syria was heavily defeated at the Chemical Weapons Convention review conference in The Hague on Tuesday.
As a result, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) will now be able to carry out further… Read more
15th November 2018
November 16 is the UN's International Day for Tolerance and to mark this occasion one of the world's less tolerant countries – the United Arab Emirates – is holding a "World Tolerance Summit".
About 1,000 people are expected to attend the two-day conference organised by the International Institute… Read more
9th November 2018
In 2014 two human rights researchers from Britain went missing in Qatar. They had gone to investigate the conditions of migrants working in the Gulf state and it turned out that the authorities, displeased by the researchers' activities, had arrested them. International media took up the case and… Read more
22nd October 2018
Last November Thomas Friedman, the New York Times columnist, travelled to Riyadh for an interview with the heir to the Saudi throne – an interview that has since proved memorable for all the wrong reasons.
Under a headline announcing "Saudi Arabia’s Arab Spring, at Last", Friedman wrote that "the… Read more
19th October 2018
A lobbyist who has received at least $120,000 for PR activities on behalf of Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar is one of the scheduled speakers at a controversial meeting to be held in the House of Lords later this month.
The meeting, billed as a discussion on postwar "reconstruction and… Read more
15th October 2018
The disappearance and suspected murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul is the latest in a long line of reasons for questioning Britain's relationship with Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf monarchies.
It's a relationship that has never been viewed with much… Read more
7th October 2018
As the humanitarian situation in Yemen continues to worsen, there are signs that the Houthis who seized control of the capital in 2014 face a growing challenge in the form of public discontent.
On Saturday more than 50 people were arrested outside Sana'a University while protesting against food… 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
