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Dubai greeted the New Year with cheers and fireworks last night as smoke and flames billowed from a burning skyscraper.
By daybreak, the fire at The Address, a 63-storey hotel and residential complex, had still not been completely extinguished. Fortunately, however, reports so far indicate… Read more
Egyptian TV presenter Islam Beheiry left court in handcuffs on Monday to begin a one-year prison sentence for thought crime. He had been convicted of "defaming" religion by calling for reform in Islam – a call previously made by no lesser figure than President Sisi himself.
In comparison with… Read more
Bahrain has an outstanding human rights record based on modern and advanced constitutional and legal texts and principles, the Gulf kingdom's prime minister, Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, claimed on Sunday. It is a record which plays a crucial role in "defending the kingdom and… Read more
Twenty government officials representing Egypt's Censorship Authority, the Tax Authority, the National Security Agency and the Ministry of Manpower raided an arts centre in downtown Cairo last night and shut it down. Mada Masr website reports:
"At around 7 pm Monday, a group of seven… Read more
Documents reportedly captured from the Islamic State and circulated by the US government include what appears to be an official fatwa authorising the killing of "apostates" for food or organ transplants.
According to a US government translation, IS's Research and Fatwa Committee was asked to… Read more
The royal families of the Gulf have long had a passion for hunting with falcons in wild and sometimes dangerous places. In recent times, the decline or extinction of suitable prey in their home countries coupled, perhaps, with a hankering for excitement, has led them to places that are… Read more
Orientalist required
Newspaper seeks journalist to write about ancient and dazzling cultures capable of brutish violence
Worldwide, jobs for Orientalists are becoming rather scarce these days but there are still opportunities in the United States.
The Los Angeles… Read more
One of the photos posted from Iraq by Nayef bin Eid Mohammed Al Thani a few days before he and his Qatari companions were kidnapped
Arabic media reports suggest the nine Qatari royals kidnapped in Iraq last week are being held by Iranian-linked Shia elements whose demands are… Read more
Pakistan's foreign minister, Aizaz Chaudhry, was taken by surprise yesterday when he read in the newspapers that his country has joined the new Saudi-led military coalition against "terrrorism". He then contacted the Pakistani ambassador in Riyadh to try to find out more.
"This is… Read more
Five "top engineering and technical officials" are expected to go on trial in Saudi Arabia in connection with the world's worst crane accident last September, according to local media. More than 100 people died and several hundred were injured when a crawler crane toppled backwards … 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
