Arab World

By Necmettin Acar | ( Middle East Monitor) – Last week, US intelligence agencies shared information revealing that Saudi Arabia is developing a ballistic missile with the support of China. Shortly afterwards, the fact that Iran launched an exercise called “The Great Prophet 17”, in which it also used ballistic missiles, put the Gulf back […]

Corporate Surveillance

Saudi feminist Loujain Alhathloul Sues UAE Hackers DarkMatter, Run by US Expats, For Spying on Her

Electronic Frontier Foundation

( Electronic Frontier Foundation) – Portland, Oregon—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a lawsuit today on behalf of prominent Saudi human rights activist Loujain AlHathloul against spying software maker DarkMatter Group and three of its former executives for illegally hacking her iPhone to secretly track her communications and whereabouts. AlHathloul is among the victims of […]

Libya

Libya 10 Years after Gaddafi: Anger, Protests over Delay to Much-Awaited Presidential Vote and Political Gridlock

Global Voices

By Dahlia Kholaif | – (Globalvoices.org) – Protesters in the eastern city of Tobruk demand that elections be held no later than January 24, and that those who delayed the vote be held accountable. A screenshot from video on Twitter of the protests on December 24. Hundreds of Libyans have taken to the streets and […]

Christianity

No Santa Claus for Christians of Lebanon, Syria or Palestine this Year as US Piles on With Sanctions or Neglect

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Why is America imposing hardships on the Christians of the Middle East? Xinhua’s reporter visited Syria and found that the Christians in Damascus don’t appear to be able to put up much in the way of Christmas lights in the Christian district of Bab Touma. They complain of a lack […]

Iraq

American Colonialism Left Iraq in Environmental Crisis, Polluted, Corrupt and Crime-Ridden

Middle East Monitor

By Haifa Zangana | – (Middle East Monitor ) – The devastation caused by man to the environment is no longer a secret; nature is striking back painfully, after decades of warnings by scientists of a catastrophic future that requires quick, radical solutions. There is no more room for procrastination in the face of hurricanes, […]

Arab World

Is the Return of Dictatorship in Tunisia the end of the Arab Spring Youth Movements?

Global Voices

By Yosr Jouini | – ( Globalvoices.org) – On July 25, 2021, Tunisian President-elect Kais Said announced the dismissal of the prime minister, a freeze of the elected parliament, and his rule by decree. While Tunisia has been lauded as the only Arab Spring country to succeed in its democratic transition, this latest announcement fuelled […]

China

Rejecting Biden pressure to distance itself from China, Emirates suspends $23 bn F-35 Deal

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The United Arab Emirates, the fabulously wealthy set of oil states at the head of the Gulf, has frozen its $23 billion deal to buy advanced stealth F-35 fighter-jets and unmanned drones from the United States. The Abu Dhabi local press delicately explained that the freeze was for “technical reasons.” […]

Afghanistan

The Pentagon lost the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars, so why are we upping its Funding to $778 billion?

William J. Astore

( Tomdispatch.com ) – Where are you going to get the money? That question haunts congressional proposals to help the poor, the unhoused, and those struggling to pay the mortgage or rent or medical bills, among so many other critical domestic matters. And yet — big surprise! — there’s always plenty of money for the […]

Arab World

The End of Democracy’s Fourth Wave? The New Authoritarians in the Mideast and Eastern Europe

Middle East Monitor

By Amr Hamzawy | – (Middle East Monitor ) – Governments are described as authoritarian when they do not grant people the right to choose them freely and change them freely through periodic and fair elections when they prevent the free circulation of information and refrain from being transparent in their management of public affairs, […]