Arab World

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The family of jailed Saudi dissident and women’s rights activist Loujain Hathloul has announced that the Saudi authorities offered to release her if she would record a video statement saying that she had not been tortured while in government custody. Her sisters say that she refused the offer, and they […]

Yemen

Yemen’s Southern Separatists Seeking International Recognition

Brian Whitaker

(Al-Bab.com | – Last Thursday Yemen’s southern separatists sent a letter to the UN Security Council and to the foreign ministers of all EU member states. Written in flawless English, it set out their grievances and demanded “credible southern representation” in political processes aimed at ending the four-year-long war. With hindsight, the letter can be […]

Archaeology

Thousands of Years of World’s Heritage Endangered in Syria, Cradle of Civilization

The Conversation

By Lubna Omar | – I used to be a Near Eastern archaeologist working in Syria. Nowadays, I am stuck in academic purgatory, observing from a great distance as the country burns, unable to help protect its history or its present. Syria sits within what’s known as the cradle of civilization. It’s part of the […]

Yemen

Civilian Casualties Mount in Indiscriminate Fighting in Yemen

Human Rights Watch

Separatist and Government Forces in Aden Showing Scant Concern for Civilians

Donald Trump

Trump-Saudi War on Yemen Collapsing as Southern Separatists Take Aden

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Yemen, a country of 28 million and one of the poorest in the world, had already become a byword for misery over the course of the last four years of war. Now, believe it or not, things have abruptly worsened. The strategic port of Aden has fallen to southern separatists, […]

Saudi Arabia

Are changes to Saudi Arabia’s Guardianship Laws really about Women?

Middle East Monitor

By Zarqa Parvez | – Saudi women are amongst the strongest, most intelligent and inspirational women in the Middle East. Female Saudi academics and activists have lobbied for women’s rights in Saudi Arabia for decades, but unfortunately have faced slow progress and a strong backlash from society and government. The recent changes in Saudi guardianship […]

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Women Fighting for & Gaining More Liberty, Even as Leaders are Jailed

The Conversation

By Alainna Liloia | – Saudi women will soon be allowed to obtain passports and travel without the permission of a male relative. This new regulation, announced by the government in early August, eases one of the most limiting aspects of the Gulf country’s “guardianship system,” which puts men in charge of their female relatives. […]

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia and the UAE’s rivalry is driving Yemen’s Internal Violence

Jonathan Fenton-Harvey

(Informed Comment) – After misleading hopes that the United Arab Emirates will withdraw from Yemen, severe recent clashes in Aden show that peace is still a distant prospect, while highlighting the consequences of the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Various violent incidents have led to numerous casualties. Lately on Wednesday UAE-backed southern secessionists […]

Saudi Arabia

Shadowy Pro-Saudi D. C. Think Tank that Defended Crown Prince Suddenly Closes

Brian Whitaker

(Al-Bab.com) – The Arabia Foundation, a pro-Saudi think tank established in Washington only two-and-a-half years ago suddenly closed down yesterday, citing “ongoing differences” among its donors that have “made continued operations difficult”. In a series of posts on Twitter the organisation’s founder, Ali Shihabi, said the closure decision was made by the board of directors. […]