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A 22-year-old Egyptian atheist was sentenced to a year in jail for "contempt of religion" at a court hearing on Monday.
Although atheism is not actually illegal in Egypt and the new constitution says freedom of belief is "absolute", atheists are "the country's second enemy after the Muslim… Read more
What we know so far
Switzerland, because of its secretive banking system, has long been a haven for dictators and criminals to stash their ill-gotten gains, as well as a place where the wealthy have accounts in order to avoid – or evade – paying tax in their home… Read more
A gay American wrestler has been barred from performing in the UAE – not by the Emirati authorities but by the company promoting the tour, World Wrestling Entertainment Inc (WWE).
In 2013, Darren Young was the first professional wrestler to come out as gay while signed-up with… Read more
Photograph: Bahrain News Agency
Surely it's time for everyone, including the British government, to stop talking about Bahrain's "reforms".
Bahrain government news agency,
27 December 2011:
Information Affairs Authority President Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa today… Read more
Last November various Yemeni political figures were flown to Brussels for a conference which had been hailed by its organisers as "a real opportunity to achieve an all-inclusive national reconciliation".
Since then, of course, the situation in Yemen has gone from bad to worse and… Read more
Yemen may be facing a "nearly catastrophic" scenario "to the point where it resembles the worst characteristics of Somalia and Afghanistan", Sir Alan Duncan, the British government's special envoy to Yemen, warned yesterday:
"If things get markedly worse we could see a dysfunctional government in… Read more
Former minister Alistair Burt
In line with the British government's sympathetic approach to "friendly" dictators, former Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt yesterday came close to excusing Egypt's imprisonment of three al-Jazeera journalists.
Appearing on the BBC's Westminster Hour, Burt was… Read more
This is a shortened version of a talk given to the Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies Society at Exeter University on 26 January 2015.
I’ve called this talk “What’s really wrong with the Middle East”, which is also the title of a book I wrote shortly before the… Read more
Earlier this week the Sisi regime announced that it had approved five international NGOs to monitor Egypt's parliamentary elections in March.
It has now emerged that this is not strictly true, because two of the five NGOs are appear to be the same organisation operating under different names… Read more
Loai Deeb, president of GNRD
A controversial NGO headed by a man who once ran a fake university from his home has been appointed to monitor Egypt's forthcoming parliamentary elections.
The Global Network for Rights and Development (GNRD), which has strong links with the UAE, is one of only five… 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
