Arab World

Geneva (AFP) – More than 920,000 people were displaced inside Syria during the first four months of 2018, the highest level in the seven-year conflict, the United Nations said Monday. “We are seeing a massive displacement inside Syria… From January to April, there were over 920,000 newly displaced people,” Panos Moumtzis, the UN regional humanitarian […]

Yemen

Saudi-led Attack on Yemen’s Hudaydah Port Could Cost 250,000 Lives: UN

Middle East Monitor

Clashes between troops backed by a Saudi-led coalition and the Iran-aligned Houthis intensified near Yemen’s Hudaydah over the weekend as the United Nations tries to negotiate a ceasefire to avert a possible assault on the main port city, military sources said. A military attack or siege on the Houthi-held western city, long a target in […]

Iraq

Iraq Election Winner Muqtada al-Sadr calls on Militias to Disarm

Middle East Monitor

Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called on Friday for a nationwide disarmament campaign and announced his Baghdad stronghold would be first to disarm just two days after an ammunitions cache exploded there and killed 18 people. Sadr, whose political bloc won Iraq’s parliamentary election in May, called on all armed groups to hand in their weapons […]

Iraq

Widespread Fraud? Iraq Elections upended as Parliament Orders Full Recount of 11 Million Votes

AFP

By Omar al-Kateb Baghdad (AFP) – Iraq’s parliament Wednesday ordered a manual recount of the May 12 legislative elections and sacked the commission which oversaw the polls that resulted in a surprise victory for a populist Shiite cleric. After several failed attempts because of a lack of quorum, outgoing MPs met to order a recount […]

Qatar

How Saudi Arabia lost out to Iran and Turkey over failed Qatar Blockade

Mohammed Nuruzzaman

The 5th of June was the first anniversary of the Saudi-led blockade of Qatar. Imposed on the accusation that Qatar was sponsoring terrorism and destabilizing the Middle East region, the blockade came as a big shock, a bolt from the blue for the Qataris but they have managed to survive it well. Qatar’s capacity to […]

Qatar

Trump’s Debacle: Gulf Game of Thrones between Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Continues

Beverly Milton-Edwards

The crisis that erupted between a Saudi-led bloc of Arab states and Qatar led to the tiny Emirate facing an attack on them that was unprecedented. A full year later, the crisis is still unresolved. Read against the wider exigencies of US interests in the Gulf, the crisis has also highlighted profound weaknesses in Donald […]

Qatar

Qatar Seeks to Join NATO, Saying It Is “Stronger” Despite Year-Long Saudi-led Blockade,

David Harding

Doha (AFP) – On the first anniversary of a bitter Gulf diplomatic rift, Qatar’s foreign minister on Tuesday declared his country stronger than ever and said it was open to dialogue with its regional rivals. Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani also rebuked Qatar’s foes for “imaginary victories” against the small Gulf state, the target of a […]

Featured

War of Aggression: The Saudi & UAE Slaughter in Yemen isn’t a Proxy Conflict with Iran

Sheila Carapico

Richmond, Va. (Informed Comment) – Alongside their throttlehold over which reporters can visit what parts of Yemen, and thus what story they can tell, Saudi and Emirati investments in public relations, lobbying, think-tanks, and political consultants are shaping the narrative about their war there. Headline writers, pundits, Wikipedia, news correspondents, and even some so-called experts […]

Displaced and Refugees

Can America Heal the Psychological Wounds of our Syrian Refugees?

Arash Javanbakht

Detroit (The Conversation) – War in Syria and the refugee crisis have been the subject of a heated debate in United States politics, leading to a travel ban and drastic reduction in the number refugees to the U.S. this year. We occasionally hear about brutal deaths and starvation of civilians in Syria from the news, […]