AFTER weeks of hand-wringing and heated debate, the United Kingdom has now joined the coalition in extended military actions in Syria. So far the impact has been fairly limited. U.K. bombs have only fallen on isolated Daesh-controlled oil fields in eastern Syria. But make no mistake, London has also committed to using its military resources… Continue reading Into the Valley of Death
Saudi King Salman Calls For Others Not to Interfere in Kingdom
RIYADH, Feb 7 – Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Sunday called on other countries not to interfere in the kingdom’s internal affairs in what appeared to be a rebuke to Riyadh’s main foe Iran, which it accuses of attempting to stir unrest. “It is our right to defend ourselves, without interfering in the affairs of… Continue reading Saudi King Salman Calls For Others Not to Interfere in Kingdom
Forever Frenemies
In the imperilled world of India-Pakistan relations, things can change drastically very quickly, while ultimately staying the same. In the final week of 2015, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an unscheduled stop to Lahore to meet his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in the first such visit by an Indian leader in 11 years, and… Continue reading Forever Frenemies
Somewhere They Belong
Ali, not his real name, wakes up every day at dawn to pray and rush to the wholesale marketplace. He buy fresh produce with the little money he has, before touring the streets of Kuwait to sell them under a scorching summer sun or during an unforgiving winter, when the temperature drops to freezing levels.… Continue reading Somewhere They Belong
Dubai Airport 2015 Traffic Up 10.7 pct, World’s Busiest
DUBAI, Feb 1 (Reuters) – Dubai International Airport remained the world’s busiest for international passengers in 2015 as traffic grew 10.7 percent, boosted by the addition of new airlines and routes, the airport’s operator said on Monday. Annual traffic rose to 78 million passengers from 70.5 million in 2014. In the month of December alone,… Continue reading Dubai Airport 2015 Traffic Up 10.7 pct, World’s Busiest
Oil Over Troubled Waters?
“When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully,” said Dr Samuel Johnson. The same is true of a major oil producer when the price falls below $28 per barrel, as happened on Friday. Saudi Arabia’s economic reform plans, revealed in an Economist interview with the Saudi… Continue reading Oil Over Troubled Waters?
Travesty of Justice
On January 6, 2016, Maulana Motiur Rahman Nizami, the leader of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami became the fifth opposition politician to be sentenced to death by the Supreme Court for alleged war crimes committed during the 1971 liberation war. However, with three executions last year for war crimes—two on the same day—the death sentence failed to… Continue reading Travesty of Justice
Nimr Al Nimr: Anatomy of a Man
SINCE RETURNING TO HIS VILLAGE in eastern Saudi Arabia in 1999, after having spent over a decade studying, teaching and preaching abroad (namely in Iran and Syria) Sheikh Nimr Baqir Al Nimr’s fiery speeches were causing considerable frustration to the Saudi government. Saudi Arabia hoped that with his execution in the first week of January… Continue reading Nimr Al Nimr: Anatomy of a Man
Masked Men Attack Saudi Intelligence Compound With Firebombs
DUBAI, Jan 11 – Masked men threw firebombs at an intelligence service compound in the city of Qatif in eastern Saudi Arabia, activists said on Monday, in an apparent reprisal for the execution of a prominent Shiite Muslim cleric earlier this month. A Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman said “there was a failed terrorist attempt to… Continue reading Masked Men Attack Saudi Intelligence Compound With Firebombs
Turkish Forces Kill 32 Kurdish Militants as Conflict Escalates
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Jan 10 – Security forces killed 32 Kurdish militants in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast this weekend, the army and security sources said on Sunday, escalating a conflict reignited by the collapse of a two-year ceasefire last summer. It was one of the bloodiest weekends since the three-decades-old insurgency resumed last July, scuppering a… Continue reading Turkish Forces Kill 32 Kurdish Militants as Conflict Escalates
Saudi Economic Shake-up Shows It is Planning for Cheap Oil
DUBAI, Dec 29 – Saudi Arabia’s planned cuts in spending and energy subsidies signal that the world’s largest crude exporter is bracing for a prolonged period of low oil prices. The OPEC heavyweight shows no signs of wavering in the long-term oil strategy it has orchestrated since last year. Instead, it appears willing to continue… Continue reading Saudi Economic Shake-up Shows It is Planning for Cheap Oil
Israeli Court Cuts Ex-PM Olmert’s Jail Term, Clears Main Charge
JERUSALEM, Dec 29 – Israel’s top court slashed former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s prison sentence to 18 months from six years on Tuesday after overturning the main count in his 2014 bribery conviction. Olmert, 70, will begin serving his term on Feb. 15, according to live reports from the Jerusalem courtroom, making him the first… Continue reading Israeli Court Cuts Ex-PM Olmert’s Jail Term, Clears Main Charge
Iran: Riyadh Thrives on Tension Following Severed Ties
DUBAI, Jan 4 – Saudi Arabia used an attack on its embassy in Tehran as a pretext to fuel tensions, Iran’s foreign ministry said on Monday after Riyadh severed diplomatic relations. Iran was committed to protecting its foreign diplomatic missions, the ministry added. Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in the early hours of Sunday… Continue reading Iran: Riyadh Thrives on Tension Following Severed Ties
Sleeping With The Enemy
Pablo Neruda once wrote: “You can cut all the flowers, but you cannot keep spring from coming.” And so it was, that 21-year-old Rami Qedra, a Muslim Palestinian MAN from Beit Lahia, a town north of Gaza, fell in love with Galit Popok, a 17-year-old Jewish Israeli girl from upper Nazareth, where he worked as… Continue reading Sleeping With The Enemy
Unmasked Happiness
They say laughter is the best medicine. It may not be a medicinal cure for those suffering from certain psychological ailments, but it alleviates the pain of those who have endured the trauma of war. To that end, laughter is as necessary as food, water and shelter. For the large number of Syrians who fled… Continue reading Unmasked Happiness
The Pursuit of Justice
Israel’s ongoing military occupation of the West Bank and enforced siege on Gaza Strip, with its illegal policies from land colonization and settlements to blockade and collective punishment, has led to mounting frustration with the country’s conduct in political circles internationally. At the level of civil society in particular, this anger has found expression in… Continue reading The Pursuit of Justice
Bomb Attacks Target Hindu Gathering in North Bangladesh
A religious Hindu ceremony in Muslim-majority Bangladesh was targeted in a bomb attack in the northern region. The countr has witnessed a rise in Islamist violence over the last year. REUTERS/Ashikur Rahman DHAKA, Dec 5 (Reuters) – At least six people were injured, with three in a critical condition, after a series of bomb blasts… Continue reading Bomb Attacks Target Hindu Gathering in North Bangladesh
Israel-Palestine: The Unattainable Peace
October 2015 was one of the bloodiest months in Palestine/Israel since the Second Intifada, with 69 Palestinian fatalities (including some 40 attackers or alleged attackers) and 7,392 injuries, along with eight Israeli fatalities and 115 injuries. The number of Palestinians injured mainly during anti-occupation protests across the West Bank and Gaza Strip, was more than… Continue reading Israel-Palestine: The Unattainable Peace
The Ground Beneath Their Feet
On Nov. 12, as Kurdish and Yazidi forces backed by the U.S.-led military coalition and Iraqi air force attempted to retake the northern city of Sinjar from Islamic militants, violence erupted between two traditional Iraqi allies in Tuz Khurmato, 108 miles north of Baghdad. Over four days of clashes in the city, militants affiliated with… Continue reading The Ground Beneath Their Feet
Hezbollah’s New Ally In Syria
“The Russians have made it clear to the Israelis there are certain areas [the Israelis] cannot operate in, especially around Latakia.” Twirling his cigarette between his fingers, Ali (not his real name) took a long drag before smiling and said: “We were comfortable before they even came into the field, and we’re still comfortable.” A… Continue reading Hezbollah’s New Ally In Syria
U.S. Presidential Candidate Jeb Bush Calls for Helping Syria’s Christian Refugees
Nov 16 – U.S. Republican Presidential candidate Jeb Bush called for assisting the Christian refugees out of Syria in an interview to CNN on Sunday. The former governor of Florida, who is also brother of ex-President George Bush was discussing the fallout from Friday’s attacks in Paris that left at least 127 people dead as… Continue reading U.S. Presidential Candidate Jeb Bush Calls for Helping Syria’s Christian Refugees
All The Kings’ Men
“It is always good [to have] true men by your side,” wrote Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed Al Maktoum on his Instagram page some five weeks ago under a photo from the battlefield in Yemen. The image shows the young leader, 26, standing next to Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa of Bahrain, both in military fatigues.… Continue reading All The Kings’ Men
Yemen: Girls With Guns
By most measures, Amal Al Wafi is like most college students. She wakes each morning at 7, boards the bus and studies hard to earn her administration degree at Taiz University, hoping it will earn her a position as a manager someday. But since renewed fighting caused her school to close in April, Amal Al… Continue reading Yemen: Girls With Guns
Should the West Worry About Turkey?
Nov 2 (Reuters) Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan appears to have beaten down his opponents and returned his Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AK Party) to a fourth term of single-party rule over the country. In doing so, he has cemented his own already-firm control over the country, and is a large step closer to becoming… Continue reading Should the West Worry About Turkey?