AW

Yemen

Yemen's president called Houthis a 'cheap Iranian tool in the region'

Iran-backed Houthis kill over 80 Yemeni soldiers

Iran

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (C-R) as he attends a tribute ceremony for the 11 Ukrainians who died in a plane mistakenly shot down by Iran during a spike in tensions with Washington at Kiev's Boryspil airport, January 19, 2020. (AFP)

Iran aims to examine downed plane’s black boxes, no plan yet to send them abroad

Lebanon

Riot police restrain a protestor during a protest against a ruling elite accused of steering Lebanon towards economic crisis in Beirut, Lebanon January 18, 2020. (Reuters)

Almost 400 wounded in Lebanon clashes Saturday: Rescuers

Jordan

On Friday hundreds of Jordanians took to the streets of Amman denouncing the "shameful" deal

Jordan parliament demands ban on Israel gas imports

"We want to send a message to the government: stop procrastinating. The people know what you're doing"

Iraqi protests escalate over lack of reform

Saudi Arabia

Aramco employees walk towards an Aramco private flight at Aramco private airport in Dammam, Saudi Arabia May 22, 2018. (Reuters)

New visa provisions boost Saudi travel industry

Latest Issue

Issue: 240 | Sun, January 19, 2020

Top Stories

Hezbollah’s support for Iran exposes its vulnerabilities at home and abroad

Simon Speakman Cordall

Demonstrations continue despite attempts to derail protests after Soleimani’s killing

Azhar Al-Rubaie

Protests go on in Algiers even as president pledges reform

Lebanon protests turn violent as ‘one-sided’ government preps cabinet

Iran sends hardline message, defends adventurism abroad

Fears grow over Turkey’s transfer of jihadists, mercenaries to Libya

Opinion

Isolated and detached from reality, Khamenei is no Gorbachev

Ghosts of all-out war hovering over the Mediterranean

What if the US liberated Iraq from Iranian occupation?

Ibrahim Zobeidi

Lebanon’s next government is doomed to fail

Lack of humanitarian aid to Idlib made worse by diplomatic wrangling

Soleimani is no Arafat and Haniyeh should know that

Marwan Kanafani

Trump’s NATOME initiative remains a blur

Editorial

Sahel

France's President Emmanuel Macron gestures next to Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou and Chad's President Idriss Deby during a news conference as part of the G5 Sahel summit on the situation in the Sahel region in Pau, France January 13. (Reuters)

Sahel security of concern to Arab world

US

US President Donald Trump arrives for a campaign rally in Toledo, Ohio, January 9. (AFP)

De-escalation between Iran and the US

Libya

The UN hopes all sides will sign up to a plan to refrain from interference, and commit to a truce that leads to a lasting end to hostilities

World powers convene over elusive Libya peace

Libya

A fighter loyal to the Turkey-backed Government of National Accord fires shots during clashes with the Libyan National Army in Tripoli’s suburb of Ain Zara. (AFP)

Fears grow over Turkey’s transfer of jihadists, mercenaries to Libya

East|West

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (2nd R) meets with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (2nd L) on the sidelines of Berlin's International Peace conference on Libya, January 19, 2020. (DPA)

Pompeo expresses ‘outrage’ to Egypt’s leader over imprisoned American’s death

Libya

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (R) talks with Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the way to a family picture during a Peace summit on Libya at the Chancellery in Berlin, on January 19, 2020. (AFP)

Britain’s Johnson says open to Libya monitoring role

Lebanon

Lebanese anti-government protesters head towards the house of Lebanon’s prime minister-designate during a demonstration in Beirut, January 14. (AFP)

Lebanon protests turn violent as ‘one-sided’ government preps cabinet

Oman

A 2013 file picture shows Oman’s Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said saluting during the military parade in the capital Muscat. (AFP)

Regional and world leaders honour Sultan Qaboos and his diplomatic legacy

Mohammed Alkhereiji

Iraq

U.S. Soldiers walk past a site of Iranian bombing at Ain al-Asad air base, in Anbar, Iraq, Monday, Jan. 13, 2020. (AP)

Debate on ouster of foreign troops from Iraq shows US caught in web of own 'failure'

Egypt

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (C) attends a presentation of combat efficiency of the armed forces in Suez, Egypt. (Reuters)

New naval base boosts Egypt’s presence in the Red Sea

Hassan Abdel Zaher

Society

Twin woes. An Iraqi child peddler sells water bottles to people driving down a street in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. (AFP)

Poverty, resentment of corruption among engines of continuing protests in Iraq

Economy

$2 trillion valuation. Saudi officials watch the stock market screen displaying Saudi state-owned oil company Aramco, in Riyadh. (AP)

Saudi Aramco triggers greenshoe purchasing option

UAE

Looking ahead. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) Group CEO, speaks during the opening ceremony of the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi. (Reuters)

Government, business leaders discuss ‘sustainable development’ in Abu Dhabi

East|West

Opposing views. US Representatives Pramila Jayapal (C) Ilhan Omar (L) and Mark Pocan, at a news conference on the killing of Qassem Soleimani, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, January 8. (AP)

US politicians divided on Soleimani killing along party lines

Gregory Aftandilian

Tunisia

Welcome trend. A tourist tries on a Tunisian “chechia” (traditional fez) in a shop at a bazaar in the Medina (old town) of Tunis, last June. (AFP)

Tunisia’s tourism sector shows signs of recovery

Algeria

Celebrating identity. Algerian Berber women prepare couscous as they mark the Yennayer New Year in the village of Ait el-Kecem, south of Tizi-Ouzou, east of Algiers. (AFP)

Celebration of Amazigh new year reflects Algeria’s diversity but also stark contradictions

Books

Poignant window into Syrian culture. Cover of “Sophia: Or the Beginning of All Tales.”

‘Sophia: Or the Beginning of All Tales’ by Rafik Schami

Society

Protesters’ haven. Tahrir Beach on the banks of the Tigris in Baghdad. (Oumayma Omar)

Tahrir Beach, a safe haven for protesters from Baghdad’s turmoil

Culture

Koma Waidi volunteers in Aswan. (Courtesy of Koma Waidi)

First Nubian language dictionary published by volunteers

Interview

Imperial vision and Ikhwan links drive Turkey’s Erdogan