Culture

Is Saudi Arabia using “Sportswashing” to Simply Hide its Human Rights Abuses — Or is there a Bigger Strategy at Play?

By Ben Rich, Curtin University and Leena Adel, Curtin University | – As Saudi Arabia continues to open up internationally, it is yet again in hot water over its human rights record. The current controversy revolves around the kingdom’s increasing presence in the sporting world and accusations of “sportswashing”. In recent years, the Saudis have […]

Sports

Life on the Run: The Angry Sports Star Who Was a Milestone Between Jack Johnson and Brittney Griner

Tomdispatch

By Robert Lipsyte ( Tomdispatch.com) – Jim Brown was a monster, not only as a wrecking-ball running back on the football field but also as a prime example of an ever more popular obsession with people (mostly men) whose admirable achievements are shaded by despicable behavior (mostly directed at women). He died last month at […]

Corruption

How Saudi Arabia came to be at the Centre of a global Golf Merger

The Conversation

By David Rowe, Western Sydney University | – Professional golf – and increasingly world sport – is caught in a sand trap. Not the familiar hazard between fairway and green, but the Middle Eastern desert producing enormous quantities of fossil fuels. The resulting riches are being diverted into sport, disrupting its traditional Western dominance. The […]

Democracy

In a post-election Turkey, the country remains divided on political lines

Arzu Geybullayeva

Written byArzu Geybullayeva ( Globalvoices.org) -Showing up at a polling station, as one of the two presidential candidates, in a country-wide election with a pocket full of cash may not occur to leaders of democratic countries, but in Turkey, that is what the newly re-elected President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan did on May 28. The incumbent […]

Arab Americans

Art Exhibit in New York Celebrates Arab American Identities: Highlighting Creativity Subverts US narratives around Arab Identity

Middle East Monitor

Works by Zeinab Saab as part of A thought is a memory, curated by Noel Maghathe. Presented by CUE Art Foundation, 2023 [Photo by Filip Wolak] By Naima Morelli naimamorelli A collective show at CUE Art Foundation in New York reflects on the hybrid identities of Arab Americans. Called “A thought is a memory”, […]

Archaeology

Egypt in uproar over Netflix’s “Black” Cleopatra, but Race is the Wrong Lens Anyway

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor ( Mustafa Amin at the Akhbar al-Yawm [News Today] reviews the controversy in Egypt over Jada Pinkett Smith’s African Queens series of documentaries on Netflix. The first installment focused on Njinga, ruler of an early modern West African kingdom in what is now northern Angola. The second treats Cleopatra, and the trailer insists […]

Music

Adam Lenhart: “Two Scenes from the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám” (Concert)

contributors

Adam Lenhart Music: “Two Scenes from The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám – University of Michigan 2023 CoLab Concert Performance” Two Scenes from The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (2022) ~ Trio for Bb Clarinet, Violin & Piano Performed by Alan Sun, Alex Vershinin and Emma Fu Video and Audio by Nelson Walker “The Rubaiyat of Omar […]

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia invests almost $40bn to become Video Gaming Hub

Middle East Monitor

( Middle East Monitor ) – In line with its ambitions to diversify its economy away from oil and to become a video gaming powerhouse, Saudi Arabia will be investing $38 billion in the local online gaming industry in Riyadh. According to a report by Bloomberg on Monday, Savvy Gaming Group, a subsidiary of the […]

Afghanistan

Art As Therapy: Afghan Women Paint Their Experiences Under Taliban Rule

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

women Afghanistan Taliban patriarchy male chauvinism art creativity