Arab World

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Saudi Arabia under the hyper-active crown prince Muhammad Bin Salman is undertaking rapid changes in society and international diplomacy. But the kingdom’s conviction that it is ready to host international events has been demonstrated to be premature by a debacle over a chess tournament. A chess […]

Authoritarianism

Riyadh releases more royals in corruption probe, Demands $6 bn from Alwaleed

Juan Cole

Middle East Monitor | – – Saudi Arabia’s authorities have released a number of detained royals allegedly involved in corruption in public office. The move came after a settlement was agreed with the suspects, the daily Okaz reported yesterday. The pro-government newspaper added that the detainees, who had been held in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in […]

al Qaeda in the Arabian Penisula

Trump’s Pentagon Admits to ‘Multiple Ground Missions’ in Yemen

Juan Cole

TeleSur | – – The U.S. Defense Department claimed the ISIS presence has doubled in Yemen. For the first time, U.S. Pentagon has admitted to carrying out “multiple ground missions” in Yemen. “U.S. forces have conducted multiple ground operations and more than 120 strikes in 2017,” U.S. Central Command, Centcom, in Tampa, Florida, said in […]

Displaced and Refugees

1,000 Days of War Bringing ‘Apocalypse’ on Yemen: Oxfam

contributors

TeleSur | – – The U.K.-based group said more than 5,000 people have died since the beginning of the war in March 2015. Yemen is on the brink of total collapse and an “apocalypse,” aid agency Oxfam said in a report Wednesday marking 1,000 days since Saudi Arabia and its regional allies began a military […]

Houthi

Saudi strikes have killed 136 civilians in Yemen, as Huthis Rocket Riyadh

contributors

Middle East Monitor | – – Air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen have killed at least 136 civilians since 6 December, Reuters reported. The UN verified that 87 civilians across the capital Sana’a, Saada and Hudaydah were injured. “We are deeply concerned at the recent surge in civilian casualties in Yemen as a […]

Saleh

Yemen: Will Saudis try to Impose Ahmed Ali Saleh, son of Dictator?

contributors

Brian Whitaker | ( al-Bab.com) | – – When Yemen held parliamentary elections in 1997 Ahmed Ali Saleh, then aged 24, was a first-time candidate. Though new to politics, he won by a handsome margin – a victory that was no doubt helped by having his father, President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and many of the […]

Featured

The Mideast has a Militia Problem: Does Iraq’s Ayatollah Sistani Have the Answer?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani has called for Iraq’s Shiite militias to come under control of the central government. One of the problems facing the Middle East has been the rise of autonomous militias, who are often more powerful than the state and its army. You have […]

Arab World

Why Arabs And Muslims Aren’t Exotic: The Grip of Orientalism (Video)

contributors

AJ+ | (Video Report) | – – “From Aladdin to Bodak Yellow, the media is obsessed with portraying Arabs and Muslims as exotic and mysterious. So why is this sort of imagery so pervasive?” Why Arabs And Muslims Aren’t Exotic | AJ+

Children

Iraq: Parliament Rejects Marriage for 8-Year-Old Girls

contributors

Human Rights Watch | – – Amendments Would Have Instated Discriminatory Laws on Family Matters (Beirut) – Iraq’s parliament has rejected proposed amendments to Iraq’s Personal Status Law (PSL) that would allow religious judges to impose discriminatory law on family matters, Human Rights Watch said today. The amendments would have covered areas including inheritance and […]