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A brief update on the Sinai air disaster. A statement by the head of Russia's Air Transport Agency that the Airbus which crashed on Saturday "disintegrated in the air at a high altitude" has renewed media speculation about a jihadist attack.
An editorial in today's Daily Mirror, for… Read more
Initial reports of the Russian airliner crash over Sinai yesterday were quick to point out that the disaster occurred in an area where Egyptian security forces are fighting an Islamist insurgency. Several hours later a statement ostensibly issued by the Islamic State claimed to have shot the… Read more
The Saudi-led aerial bombardment of Yemen entered its eighth month on Monday – an occasion marked by a series of strikes that almost completely destroyed a hospital in Saada province supported by Médecins Sans Frontières.
Saudi, Emirati and Bahraini troops are also known to be fighting on the… Read more
When Jeremy Corbyn became leader of the opposition Labour party in Britain last month I wrote a blog post looking at his public statements on international affairs and trying to draw some conclusions about how British policy in the Middle East might change under a Corbyn-led government.
While… Read more
Sharia in Britain (2)
Government refuses to back gender-equality measure
Last Monday, amid much fanfare from the prime minister, the British government issued a 40-page document setting out what it likes to describe as its "counter-extremism" strategy. Among many other… Read more
Sharia in Britain
House of Lords debate scheduled for tomorrow
Earlier this week the British government issued a 40-page document setting out its "counter-extremism" strategy. One of the proposals is for an independent review "to understand the extent to which sharia is being… Read more
The Art of Living international ashram in Bangalore, India
GNRD and the Indian guru
Rights group's puzzling connection
With the sudden death of Anne-Marie Lizin, the Emirati-linked Global Network for Rights and Development (GNRD) has lost one of its key figures – its… Read more
Anne-Marie Lizin, the Belgian politician who later became a key figure in GNRD, the controversial human rights organisation, died suddenly on Saturday. Mrs Lizin, who was 66, had been taken ill in Paris on 7 October and briefly hospitalised, apparently with heart problems. She then… Read more
In its latest annual survey of religious freedom, the US State Department highlights the kidnapping and extortion of Christians in Egypt. Church leaders say this is on the increase and according Pope Tawadros, head of the Coptic church, it is among the most significant problems faced by… Read more
Husband-and-wife GNRD executives, Jehad Jaghoub and Evgenia Kondrakhina
Norwegian police carried out further raids yesterday in connection with their investigation into suspected money laundering by the Global Network for Rights and Development (GNRD).
The first raids, last May, which… 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
