Two words guaranteed global infamy for fake terrorists this month: Allahu Akbar—Arabic for “God is the greatest.” They were allegedly used at a train station near Munich, as a mentally ill German man randomly killed one victim, and wounded three others in a knife attack. On the same day, an unidentified British volunteer taking part… Continue reading Countering Fear
EXCLUSIVE: Interview with Kurdish Intel Chief Lahur Talabani
Lahur Talabani’s journey to the forefront of the global war on terror began in the spring of 2002. It was a year after the 9/11 attacks had Americans questioning their intelligence failures in Afghanistan and the greater Middle East region. Talabani, then 26, was stationed in Ankara, representing one of the two main Iraqi Kurdish… Continue reading EXCLUSIVE: Interview with Kurdish Intel Chief Lahur Talabani
Yemen: Stairwell Lessons
Schools in one of Yemen’s largest cities, Taiz, are not empty. But they are not filled with students, either. Those that have not been completely destroyed by the conflict are now makeshift camps or barracks for Houthi rebels or resistance fighters locked in a nine-month war. Students have been left to study in streets, mosques… Continue reading Yemen: Stairwell Lessons
Gaza’s Pesky Pesticides
In Jabalia market, north of Gaza City, Mohammed Okasha, 42, moves between the stalls of vegetables wearily inspecting piles of tomatoes, cucumber, potatoes and other vegetables. Okasha suspects that the products are harming his family “because of the unhealthy and illegal use of fertilizers, which some farmers are using,” he tells Newsweek Middle East. Rumors… Continue reading Gaza’s Pesky Pesticides
Safe Bases: UAE’s Military Expansion in Africa
Two overseas Arab military garrisons are being established to secure a hold over one of the world’s most crucial chokepoints, right across the waters from Arabia. The military expansion is a clear reflection of a need felt across the Gulf Arab capitals to regain control of their own security, due to the deteriorating security situation… Continue reading Safe Bases: UAE’s Military Expansion in Africa
Beyond The Scars
“I saw my dad, I hugged him and his entire shirt got burned, even after twenty buckets of water were poured on me,” says Laxmi Agarwal. Agarwal was attacked with acid in 2005 while she was on her way to Delhi’s Khan Market. The reason? She dared to reject the advances of a man who… Continue reading Beyond The Scars
Farming Without Soil Seen as Solution in Land Without Water
CAIRO, Dec 14 – Growing lettuce in the desert is not most people’s idea of how to make a success of farming, but Amr Bassiouny believes he is on to something. The 30-year-old chief executive of Egyptian Hydrofarms says he is growing salad greens at his farm on the outskirts of Cairo using 90 percent… Continue reading Farming Without Soil Seen as Solution in Land Without Water
Taylor Swift Says DJ Subjected Her to Long, ‘Horrifying’ Grope
DENVER, Aug 11 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Taylor Swift testified on Thursday she was subjected to a “very long” and “intentional” grope by a Colorado disc jockey who appeared to be drunk during a photo session four years ago. The 27-year-old pop star was testifying for the first time for a U.S. District Court jury weighing… Continue reading Taylor Swift Says DJ Subjected Her to Long, ‘Horrifying’ Grope
This Week in History: November 9 – November 13
November 12, 1996: Charkhi Dadri Mid-Air Collision The Charkhi Dadri incident is considered the deadliest mid-air collision to date. A Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747 en route from Delhi to Dhahran, and a Kazakh Ilyushin Il-76 cargo en route from Chimkent to Delhi collided mid-air near New Dekhi, killing 349 people. The Saudi Flight 763 was… Continue reading This Week in History: November 9 – November 13
Meritocracy or Kleptocracy: Kurdistan’s Political Leadership in Turmoil
The Kurdistan region has been suffering on multiple fronts be it an economic crisis and delays in salaries for six months to disputes over budget cuts by the central government and decline in oil prices. There’s also a presidential crisis with Masoud Barzani’s expired tenure after two terms and two years of extension; Barzani has… Continue reading Meritocracy or Kleptocracy: Kurdistan’s Political Leadership in Turmoil
Mystery Surrounds Shahbaz Taseer’s Captivity and Return
Shahbaz Taseer was a high-profile kidnapping victim in Pakistan — missing for almost five years after he was abducted a few hundred meters from his home in an affluent neighborhood in the city of Lahore on August 26, 2011. His case was major news in Pakistan because in January the same year, his father Salmaan Taseer,… Continue reading Mystery Surrounds Shahbaz Taseer’s Captivity and Return
Big Tobacco Leaves Huge Ecological Footprint: WHO
GENEVA, May 30 – Tobacco growing is causing “massive harm” to the environment through the extensive use of chemicals, energy and water, and pollution from manufacturing and distribution, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. The United Nations agency called for the tobacco industry to compensate for its products that contribute to greenhouse gases… Continue reading Big Tobacco Leaves Huge Ecological Footprint: WHO
Saudi Arabia Says King’s Contact with U.S. Helped Ease Al Aqsa Mosque Tensions
RIYADH, July 27 – Saudi Arabia said on Thursday King Salman had been in contact with the United States and other world powers to try to prevent Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City being closed to Muslims and to defuse political and religious tensions. Israel overnight removed all security infrastructure it had put in… Continue reading Saudi Arabia Says King’s Contact with U.S. Helped Ease Al Aqsa Mosque Tensions
Lost Children are Legacy of Battle for Iraq’s Mosul
MOSUL, Iraq, July 30 – Thousands of children have been separated from their parents in the nine-month battle for Mosul and the preceding years of Daesh rule in northern Iraq – some found wandering alone and afraid among the rubble, others joining the refugee exodus from the pulverized city. In some cases their parents have… Continue reading Lost Children are Legacy of Battle for Iraq’s Mosul
S&P: Negative Rating Actions Taken On Qatari Banks
• On June 7, 2017, S&P lowered its long-term sovereign credit rating on the State of Qatar to ‘AA-‘ and placed it on Credit Watch with negative implications. In S&P’s view, the moves by a group of governments to cut diplomatic ties and trade and transport links with Qatar will exacerbate the country’s external vulnerabilities… Continue reading S&P: Negative Rating Actions Taken On Qatari Banks
Turkey to Fast-Track Draft Bill Approving Troop Deployment in Qatar
ANKARA, June 7 – Turkey’s parliament is expected to fast-track on Wednesday a draft bill allowing its troops to be deployed to a Turkish military base in Qatar, officials from the ruling AK Party and the nationalist opposition said. The move appears to support the Gulf Arab country as it faces diplomatic and trade isolation… Continue reading Turkey to Fast-Track Draft Bill Approving Troop Deployment in Qatar
Egypt’s President Sissi is Bullying Rivals Ahead of His Re-election Bid
If Khaled Ali is worried, he isn’t showing it. Sitting behind a wooden desk in his office in downtown Cairo, the prominent human rights attorney is discussing his case with the calm remove of a lawyer defending his client. Only this time, Ali is the one on trial. In May, Egyptian authorities arrested Ali, a… Continue reading Egypt’s President Sissi is Bullying Rivals Ahead of His Re-election Bid
Israel’s Struggle to Integrate Ultra-Orthodox and Arabs Raises Economic Fears
BNEI BRAK, Israel, July 19 – Chaim Rachmani spends his days studying Jewish religious texts in the Israeli town of Bnei Brak, whose crowded streets brush up against the office towers of Tel Aviv. He has no plans to look for work – ever. While dressed in a pinstriped business suit, Rachmani is among half… Continue reading Israel’s Struggle to Integrate Ultra-Orthodox and Arabs Raises Economic Fears
El Chapo’s Narco Mafia
A video showing the hideout of Joaquín Guzmán Loera (aka “El Chapo”), filmed October 6 by the Mexican navy and broadcast by the Mexican newspaper El Universal, is incredible for its details. Films shot by law enforcement in the hideouts of mafia bosses are usually very similar—there’s great excitement, even when, as on this occasion,… Continue reading El Chapo’s Narco Mafia
Weaponizing Global Finance
Looking back at the American-led response to the 9/11 attacks, it is difficult to find clear-cut successes tied to military intervention. Osama Bin Laden may have been killed, but his organization—and even more brutal successors like Daesh—has expanded. At the same time, the Taliban in Afghanistan are steadily fighting their way back to their former… Continue reading Weaponizing Global Finance
Saudi move to relax male guardianship welcomed by women’s advocates
BEIRUT, May 5 – A move by Saudi Arabia to give women more control over their life choices by further relaxing a controversial male guardian system was tentatively welcomed on Friday as another small step for women in the conservative kingdom. Saudi Arabia is well known as one of the world’s most gender-segregated nations, where… Continue reading Saudi move to relax male guardianship welcomed by women’s advocates
MENA’s Private Education Sector: A Burgeoning Market
“Probably the greatest social challenge for all of us is our youth – because they are our future. Without appropriate education and guidance, they will be lost souls, easily manipulated, and prone to being turned into a destructive element in society,” Abdul Latif Al Zayani, the secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), said earlier… Continue reading MENA’s Private Education Sector: A Burgeoning Market
Malala Yousafzai’s Father on Raising Feminist Sons
At the Investing in the Future UN Women Conference in Sharjah, UAE, Newsweek Middle East‘s Arfa Shahid asked Malala Yousafzai’s father how he is raising feminist sons who ensure the empowerment of women. Malala has two younger brothers, Khushal Khan and Atal Khan. Here’s what Malala’s father Ziauddin Yousafzai, a U.N. Special Advisor on Global Education,… Continue reading Malala Yousafzai’s Father on Raising Feminist Sons
Fifteen Years After Bloody Riots, Indian Muslims Struggle to Escape Gujarat Ghettos
AHMEDABAD, India, July 24 – Shahjahan Bano was a young boy in February 2002, selling vegetables with his mother in a market in Ahmedabad in the western Indian state of Gujarat, when some of the worst communal riots in the country’s history broke out. For days mobs rampaged the city, burning houses, looting shops, raping… Continue reading Fifteen Years After Bloody Riots, Indian Muslims Struggle to Escape Gujarat Ghettos