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After a delay of more than six months Saudi Arabia finally admitted yesterday that its coalition forces have been using British-made cluster bombs in Yemen. A statement issued through the Saudi government news agency said the coalition had now "decided to cease usage" of those made in Britain… Read more
After a delay of more than two years Lebanon finally has a new government and, for the first time, it includes a minister for women's affairs. He – yes, he – is Jean Oghassabian, a 62-year-old Armenian who has held posts in several previous governments.
Reuters notes… Read more
Egyptian investigators announced yesterday that "traces of an explosive substance" had been found on the bodies of "some" victims of Egyptair flight MS804 which crashed into the Mediterranean sea last May. The claim, which hints at a terrorist attack, has been greeted with scepticism… Read more
A Raytheon bomb fragment said to have been found at the scene of the funeral massacre in Yemen
Amid concern about civilian casualties in Yemen, the United States is cutting back on arms sales to Saudi Arabia – at a time when the Britain, the kingdom's other main supplier, is trying… Read more
The death was reported today of Mohamed Tamalt who had been serving a two-year jail sentence in Algeria for insulting President Bouteflika on Facebook.
Tamalt, 42, who had dual British and Algerian nationality and had been living in Britain before his imprisonment, was arrested on June 27… Read more
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A British flag flying shamelessly alongside those of repressive Gulf regimes at the GCC summit in Bahrain yesterday signalled the opening of what prime… Read more
Britain's prime minister, Theresa May, is in Bahrain today for the annual summit of the rich autocrats' club, the Gulf Cooperation Council. As the official announcement from Downing Street excitedly points out, she is the first British prime minister – and the first woman – ever to attend a… Read more
The Doha Centre for Media Freedom was set up by the emir of Qatar in 2007. Press freedom and quality journalism, its mission statement says, "are vital for empowering citizens to participate in social and political life. Well functioning media are crucial for healthy societies and sustainable… Read more
Visiting Syria in 2004, Brad Hoff, an ex-Marine from Texas, went looking for cheap beer and chanced upon a bar where – to his surprise – most of the customers were gay.
The existence of such a bar in Damascus, Hoff writes after visiting it again recently, is "symbolic of the nuance and… Read more
Amid chants of "Allahu akbar", huge and angry crowds gathered outside the Supreme Court in Mauritania on Tuesday demanding the execution of a man who complained about religion being used to justify social discrimination.
In December 2013 engineer Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir wrote an… 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
