AW

Yemen

‘First step’. Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yaman (L) shakes hands with head of Houthi delegation Mohammed Abdulsalam (R) while UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres looks on during the Yemen peace talks closing news conference in Rimbo, north of Stockholm, December 13.(AFP)

Hodeidah ceasefire deal clinched but Yemen peace not there yet

Mahmud el-Shafey

Maghreb

Cri de coeur. A French student shouts slogans during a protest against the government and education reforms, December 11. (Julien Mattiale Pictorium)

Trepidation and relief in Maghreb over ‘yellow vest’ protests

Qatar

Under scrutiny. Former UN official Jamal Benomar. (AP)

The strange case of UN envoy turned-Qatar lobbyist

Iraq

Broken system. A view of Mosul General Hospital.(Azhar al-Rubaie)

Mosul residents decry poor medical conditions

Azhar Al-Rubaie

Saudi Arabia

Creating synergies. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir (C) and Yemen’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed Hadrami (R) arrive to attend a meeting of foreign ministers of countries from seven Arab and African states surrounding the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, December 12. (AFP)

Riyadh makes ambitious push for new Red Sea bloc

Syria

The heat is on. A military vehicle is transported as part of a convoy on the outskirts of the city of Kilis in south-eastern Turkey near the border with Syria, December 13. (Ismet Bicen/IHA)

Erdogan’s threat of Syria intervention puts Turkey, US at ‘crossroads’

Latest Issue

Issue: 185 | Sun, December 09, 2018

Top Stories

Egypt expo reflects progress of Arab military industry

Qatar isolates itself amid intra-Gulf tensions

Military tensions escalate showdown between US, Iran

Tunisian Jewish cabinet member assumes office, holds on to favourite cafe

Yemen peace talks begin but major hurdles remain

Mahmud el-Shafey

Basra’s demonstrators to continue protests ‘until demands are met’

Azhar Al-Rubaie

Opinion

Drawing lessons from France’s yellow vests

Oussama Romdhani

Qatari ties to Iran, Turkey undermine regional security

The migration compact doesn’t help a fraught debate

Rashmee Roshan Lall

Empty rhetoric did not save Saddam or Qaddafi, it will not save Iran

Ibrahim al-Zoubeidi

The future of Trump’s ‘Deal of the Century’

The not-so-trivial pursuit of Hezbollah

Israel’s actions speak louder than its talk of regional peace

Editorial

Women

Omaima Al-Khamis, a Saudi writer, delivers a speech after receiving Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature at the American University (AUC) in Cairo, December 11. (Reuters)

Arab women deserve to be academic leaders

MENA region

Palestinian youth run carrying Palestinian flags by the barbed wire fence along the border with Israel east of Gaza City, December 7. (AFP)

Regional tensions add to concern

Syria

Fear tactics. Children try improvised gas masks in their home in Binnish in Syria’s Idlib province, last September.(AFP)

US accusations over chemical attack crucial for Idlib battle

Simon Speakman Cordall

Maghreb

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel walks past UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (L) and Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for International Migration Louise Arbor during the opening session of a UN Migration Conference in Marrakech, December 10. (AP)

UN migration conference widens divisions

Egypt

Useful expertise. Egyptian and African forces at the start of the military exercises at Mohamed Naguib Military Base in Matrouh governorate, December 9. (Egyptian armed forces spokesman’s Facebook account)

Egypt trains Sahel, Sahara militaries on fighting terror

Egypt

Political grievances. Former chief of the Wafd Party Sayyid al-Badawi (C) and other leading party members during a news conference in Cairo. (Twitter)

Divisions threaten future of Egypt’s Wafd Party

Libya

Unaddressed grievances. A Libyan Tuareg man sits at a passport control post near the border with Algeria. (Reuters)

Deep anger in south-western Libya fuels unrest

Algeria

Honouring victims. Mohammed Isa (C-L), Algerian Minister of Religious Affairs and Endowments, welcomes Papal Envoy Cardinal Angelo Becciu (C-R) at the Chapel of Our Lady of Santa Cruz in Algeria’s northern city of Oran, December 8. (AFP)

Roman Catholic church beatifies martyrs in Algeria in historic first

Society

Other fish to fry. A man walks past graffiti depicting poverty and homelessness in downtown Cairo. (Reuters)

Poll reflects anxiety, frustration in the Arab world

Iraq

An Iraqi worker operates valves in Nihran Bin Omar oilfield, north of Basra. (AP)

Baghdad plans increased oil production and exports for 2019

Economy

Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed al-Maktoum (3rd-L) with the winners of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Awards in Dubai. (MBRF)

Youth, future of knowledge economy focus of Dubai summit

N.P. Krishna Kumar

Syria

Biggest winner. A Russian soldier (C) places the national flag at the Abu Duhur crossing on the eastern edge of Idlib, September 25. (AFP)

The 2018 winners and losers in Syria war

Books

Cover of Samuel Helfont’s “Compulsion in Religion: Saddam Hussein, Islam and the Roots of Insurgencies in Iraq.”

Studying Saddam’s ‘compulsion in religion’

Society

A view of a minaret of al-Azhar mosque in Cairo as passers-by climb out of a pedestrian-crossing tunnel traversing a main street. (AFP)

Al-Azhar’s contradictions betray bias against gender equality

Hisham al-Najjar

Culture

A puppet version of Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum performs with a puppet-backing band in Cairo. (Al-Sawy Culture Wheel)

‘Umm Kulthum Returns’ on Cairo puppet theatre stage

Sherif al-Shafei

Culture

A scene from the Tunisian play “Zaman El Forsene” (“Era of Knights”). (Carthage Theatre Festival)

Carthage Theatre Festival: A celebration of Arab and African roots

Opinion

Cover of L.L. Wynn’s “Love, Sex and Desire in Modern Egypt.”

L.L. Wynn’s ‘Love, Sex and Desire in Modern Egypt’

Dunia El-Zobaidi

Society

Saudi entrepreneur Manar Alomayri poses at the Digital Media Services tent as a part of the Step 2017 Conference and Music in Dubai. (AP)

Celebrating the Arabic language in the digital age

Khadija Hamouchi

Travel

One of the lounges at Dubai International Airport. (Dubai International Airport)

Dubai Airport sets bar high in passenger comfort, services

N.P. Krishna Kumar

Society

A student reads a book in Arabic on her first day back to school in one of Beirut’s poor suburbs, last September. (AFP)

Arabic language faces new challenges in own region