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Having declared that 2016 is the "Year of Egyptian Youth", President Sisi yesterday inaugurated a conference intended – in Sisi's words – to "have a dialogue and raise hope" among the young. But hope, along with sugar in Egypt, is currently in short supply.
At the opening session of the… Read more
In a story labelled "exclusive", Reuters reports that Iran has stepped up transfers of weapons to Yemen's Houthis:
"The increased pace of transfers in recent months, which officials said include missiles and small arms, could exacerbate a security headache for the United States ...
"Much of… Read more
Within hours of airstrikes that killed at least 140 Yemenis attending a funeral on October 8, the Saudi-led coalition flatly denied any involvement. A week later, the Saudis threw up their hands and admitted responsibility. So how did this sudden U-turn come about?
The Saudis might be still… Read more
Yesterday the United States, Britain and the UN's special envoy issued a joint call for a rapid and unconditional ceasefire in Yemen.
"We are not calling for this in a vacuum," US secretary of state John Kerry said; there have been "communications" with representatives of the Houthis who… Read more
Saudi Arabia now accepts that it should not have bombed the funeral in Yemen last Saturday, killing at least 140 people and injuring more than 500.
A statement issued today through the Saudi government news agency blamed the kingdom's Yemeni allies for instigating the attack based on false… Read more
Saudi Arabia is surely relieved. Less than a week after its coalition warplanes committed the worst atrocity of the Yemen war so far, killing at least 140 people at a funeral and injuring more than 500, the heat is off and the media focus has shifted to Iran.
The bombing in the Yemeni capital last… Read more
The United States, which has been anxious not to acquire the legal status of "co-belligerent" in the Yemen war, yesterday fired Tomahawk cruise missiles at three radar stations on Houthi-controlled Yemeni territory. The strikes signal a further escalation of tensions in the Red Sea which have been… Read more
What was meant to end in a swift victory for the coalition is rapidly turning into a protracted civil war with grave humanitarian consequences. The Saudi-led intervention has wreaked havoc on Yemen and inflamed sectarian rifts across the Gulf region.
Eight months after Saudi Arabia said its efforts… Read more
Saudi Arabia has "privately accepted" that one of its coalition warplanes bombed a funeral in Yemen on Saturday, according to the BBC's security correspondent, Frank Gardner. Gardner's report appears to be based on a briefing from British government officials.
At least 140 mourners died in… Read more
The bombing has been "barbaric" and war crimes have "unquestionably" been committed. One especially repugnant kind of bombing is known, euphemistically, as the double tap: "They drop one bomb and then they wait for the aid workers to come out, civilian people pulling the injured from 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
