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The committee charged with drafting amendments to the Egyptian constitution issued its proposals yesterday. They are now up for public discussion and will eventually be submitted to a referendum.
The amendments are mainly concerned with preventing the recurrence of another Mubarak-style presidency…
This is a guest post by Parvez Sharma
Sitting at a Manhattan Starbucks, enjoying the free wireless and watching the snow fall softly outside, a definitely less-wired Cairo seems a million miles away. This greatest of Arab cities has always been the city of my dreams and many passions and very…
My talk at Café Diplo last night. Read it here.
Posted by Brian Whitaker, 22 Feb 2011
Just in case anyone is wondering ... after a period of very intensive blogging here since the events of Sidi Bouzid in December, I have to take a short break in order to catch up on a few other things.
One of them is to prepare a talk on Saudi Arabia (to be given at Café Diplo in London next…
Lest we forget that Yemen also has a place called Tahrir Square, here's an account from Human Rights Watch about the events there yesterday:
Hundreds of men armed with knives, sticks, and assault rifles attacked anti-government protesters in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, as Yemeni security…
National politics or tribal politics? In Yemen it's often difficult to tell the difference, as illustrated by a violent spat on Saturday involving Hamid al-Ahmar, one of the most outspoken opposition MPs, and Nu'man Duwaid, the governor of Sana'a province.
Al-Ahmar is a prominent figure in the…
The situation in Egypt, as a friend from Alexandria described it to me in an email this morning, is "quite fluid and extremely scary". It's also very difficult to work out what is really going on behind the scenes.
Vice-President Suleiman increasingly behaves as if he were president, while the…
Tens of thousands took part in Yemen's "day of rage" yesterday, and it looks like becoming a regular Thursday occurrence. The turnout was probably less than the organisers had been hoping and I doubt that it did much to frighten President Salih. Although he is increasingly unpopular, the opposition…
Egyptian protesters have dubbed today the "Day of Departure" for President Mubarak – and they may be proved right. There are reports this morning that the US has now shifted from vague talk of "transition" to working on a plan for him to step down immediately.
The American plan is said to…
Today has been declared a "day of rage" in Yemen and a demonstration is about to start in Sanaa as I write. This follows a series of protests in the capital last month (here and here) in which several thousands took part. The organisers are hoping for a much bigger turnout today – but…
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
