Sunday 08 Dec 2019 | | AW

Top Stories

In first visit to Morocco, Pompeo discusses Iran threat, security cooperation

Tensions escalate in Algeria over presidential election

Turkey isolated in its Syria policy as Erdogan fails to secure NATO backing

Iraq new flashpoint for US-Iran tensions, troop buildup mulled

Lebanese mothers struggle to keep protests non-violent

Interview

Helping hand. Libyan students receive school supplies provided by UNICEF during the summer school programme at a local school in Tripoli, Libya. (Reuters)

UNICEF sees regression for children’s welfare in Arab World

Under the spotlight. Fighters from the Lebanese Shia Hezbollah movement take part in a military parade marking the party’s Martyrs’ Day in the eastern Bekaa Valley city of Baalbek, November 12 (AFP)

Book offers unprecedented detail on Hezbollah’s structure

Economy

Oil as usual. Iraqi Oil Minister Thamer Ghadhban speaks at a news conference in Baghdad, Iraq. (Reuters)

Iraq protests have barely affected oil production

Rising potential. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (C) meeting with Eni CEU Claudio Descalzi (top L) in Cairo, January 16. (AFP)

Could Egypt cut into Qatar’s gas market?

‘Made in Tunisia’ first. Slim Feriani, Tunisian minister of Industry and Energy, speaks during an interview in Tunis. (Reuters)

Tunisia tries to boost local garment industry as it struggles with foreign imports

Imbalances. Cargo ships in Tanger Med port in Ksar Sghir near the coastal city of Tangier, Morocco. (Reuters)

Morocco reviews free trade partnerships to tackle deficit

Culture

Diversity in art. “Sa’af” installation by Shahad Alazaz in collaboration with local craftspeople from the Eastern Provinces of Saudi Ara (Courtesy Dubai Design Week 2019)

Dubai Design Week offers region its largest creative festival

N.P. Krishna Kumar

Lively scene. Artists paint a mural in Tataouine. (JAAC)

‘Carthage Days’ celebrates contemporary art in Tunis

Artist Lena Naassana, Saeida Rouass, Hannah Khalil and Nour Hage. (Dr Johnson’s House)

London exhibition explores Britain, Middle East ties

Karen Dabrowska

Travel

Artist Lena Naassana, Saeida Rouass, Hannah Khalil and Nour Hage. (Dr Johnson’s House)

London exhibition explores Britain, Middle East ties

Karen Dabrowska

Society

Time-honoured tradition. Emirati Abdullah al-Suwaidi demonstrates how his ancestors would pick up oysters off the seabed, at the Suwaidi’s pearl farm, off the coast of al-Rams in the northern emirate of Ras al-Khaimah. (AFP)

On Emirates’ glittering coast, pearl trade lives on

Helping hand. Libyan students receive school supplies provided by UNICEF during the summer school programme at a local school in Tripoli, Libya. (Reuters)

UNICEF sees regression for children’s welfare in Arab World

Tough lives. A Tunisian woman sifts through garbage at a landfill in a poor district of Tunisia’s central city of Kasserine. (AFP)

Extreme poverty digs deeper into Arab region

News & Analysis

Uncertainty shrouds formation of a new government in Lebanon

New UN nuclear chief vows to be ‘firm and fair’ in Iran dispute

Nile dam talks end in Cairo with no deal

Hassan Abdel Zaher

Sarraj-Erdogan deal sparks anger, wariness across region

Lebanese mothers struggle to keep protests non-violent

Is a Middle Eastern naval war looming?

Turkey-GNA maritime deal rings alarms in Egypt

For Iraqi protesters, PM’s resignation is ‘a drop in the ocean’

Azhar Al-Rubaie

Fallout on Syria from Lebanon’s crisis is not just economic

Simon Speakman Cordall

Regime targets medics in ‘brutal’ anti-terror effort, report charges

Demands of restive population to challenge Tunisia’s next government

Cautious optimism precedes GCC summit

Mohammed Alkhereiji

Thoughts

New IAEA chief’s greatest challenge may lie with Iran

More bloodshed, harsher repression in Iran’s protests

Hezbollah is seeking foreign help to protect its power

Lebanon at new crossroads but deadlock likely to endure

Books

Under the spotlight. Fighters from the Lebanese Shia Hezbollah movement take part in a military parade marking the party’s Martyrs’ Day in the eastern Bekaa Valley city of Baalbek, November 12 (AFP)

Book offers unprecedented detail on Hezbollah’s structure

From women’s perspective. Azadeh Moaveni with the women of ISIS. (Courtesy of Azadeh Moaveni)

Taking a new look at women of ISIS

Environment

Undrinkable. Water pours in Al Bida water tanks project in Basra. (Reuters)

Year after poisoning disaster, Iraq seeks end to its water crisis