GCC

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Al-Arabiya reports that the Security Council in Iraqi Kurdistan has announced that their paramilitary, the Peshmerga have taken 150 square kilometers of the city of Sinjar from Daesh (ISIL, ISIS) and has the entire city surrounded. Some sources say that 70% of the city has fallen […]

Displaced and Refugees

Why Don’t Rich Arab Gulf States Welcome Syrian Refugees?

contributors

By Charles Recknagel | (RFE/ RL ) | – – It's hard not to notice how almost all Syrian refugees flee westward rather than seek a safe haven in the rich Arab Persian Gulf states. Now, social-media users worldwide are increasingly raising the question of why. On Twitter, the Arabic-language hashtag #Hosting_Syria's_refugees_is_a_Gulf_duty has become a […]

GCC

Yemen: Saudi & Coalition guilty of War Crimes for Bombing Civilians: HRW

contributors

Human Rights Watch | – – (Sanaa) – Saudi-led coalition airstrikes that killed at least 65 civilians, including 10 children, and wounded dozens in the Yemeni port city of Mokha on July 24, 2015, are an apparent war crime. Starting between 9:30 and 10 p.m., coalition airplanes repeatedly struck two residential compounds of the Mokha […]

Bahrain

After Vienna, Arabs, Israel seek massive conventional Arms Deals: US ready to Sell

contributors

By Thalif Deen | – – UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – The nuclear agreement concluded last week between Iran and six big powers, the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany, is threatening to trigger a new Middle East military build-up – not with nuclear weapons but with conventional arms, including fighter planes, combat helicopters, […]

Bahrain

Why the Arab Gulf Oil Monarchies should Welcome Iran Deal

contributors

By Miriam R Lowi | (Via al-Araby al-Jadeed ) | – – Gulf states, long-time rivals of Tehran, should seize the opportunities for regional peace and security offered by the historic deal, writes Miriam Lowi. In recent months, a lot has been said about the promises and perils of negotiating with Iran, making compromises and […]

Banking

Are Arab Oil Monarchies divided over Iran Deal?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) comprises Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. In recent years it has faced severe internal divisions, especially a Saudi-Qatar split over the Muslim Brotherhood, which Riyadh wanted to crush but which Qatar generally has supported. After […]

Displaced and Refugees

Yemen: Saudi Airstrikes kill 58, including dozens of Women and Children

contributors

RT | (Video report) — “Saudi-led coalition warplanes are continuing to pound Houthi targets in Yemen despite the rebels agreeing to UN-backed peace talks. The strikes have killed 58 people across the country over the past two days, according to the Houthis. And the humanitarian situation is getting worse by the day, according to the […]

Food Security

Yemen conflict fans food insecurity

contributors

By Peter Salisbury and Louise Redvers | (IRIN) – AMMAN / DUBAI (IRIN) – The conflict in Yemen is worsening the country’s food insecurity, according to a new report, which predicts that the parts of Arab state may enter an emergency phase by the end of the year. The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) […]

GCC

Richest Countries Bomb among World’s Poorest: Yemen already a Forgotten War

contributors

VICE News | (Video) | – “For more than six weeks, nine countries led by Saudi Arabia have been carrying out airstrikes on Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest nation. Whole neighborhoods have been destroyed and communities reduced to rubble. According to the United Nations, the strikes, targeting Iranian-backed Houthi rebel positions in the Yemeni capital […]