Morocco mission to rescue last of the Atlas lions
Wednesday, 03 October 2012
Almost a century after a French colonial hunter put a bullet in what came to be viewed as the last Atlas lion living in the wild, a Moroccan zoo is struggling to claw the fabled subspecies back from the brink of extinction. The majestic animal, also known as the Barbary lion and once common across north Africa, ... Read More
Political alliances in the post-revolutionary Egypt
Tuesday, 02 October 2012
In the post revolutionary Egypt, especially following a presidential election in which the Muslim Brotherhood group triumphed, civilian, central and Islamic groups are coming together to form alliances and consolidate their efforts in the race to power. In a recent study Al Arabiya Institute for Studies and Training draws ... Read More
Al-Zeitouna: The only Arabic library in Switzerland
Tuesday, 02 October 2012
Al-Zeitouna, or Olive Tree, is the only Arabic library in Switzerland which was founded 33 years ago by a Syrian/ Lebanese man, born in Egypt and holding a Sudanese passport, who has spent all of his life in Switzerland. "I started this project in 1979, thirty three years ago, and I remember that when I started it I ... Read More
Archeologists uncover new Assyrian site in northern Iraq
Tuesday, 02 October 2012
Archeologists working in northern Iraq have discovered a new Assyrian site in the vicinity of the historic Arbil city center, the head of the antiquities office in the Kurdish Province of Arbil, Haydar Hassan, was quoted as saying in an Iraqi newspaper. The Assyrian civilization flourished in northern Iraq between 1000-700 ... Read More
Iraqi youth group promotes reading
Monday, 01 October 2012
“I am Iraqi, I read,” is the name of a group set up by Iraqi youths to bring awareness to the declining interest in reading books. The group created a Facebook page encouraging young Iraqis to read. An event held on the borders of Dajla River was held by the civil community with reading and writing activities doing what their ... Read More
In Syrian shadow, Iraq’s Maliki juggles Tehran and Washington
Monday, 01 October 2012
Iraq’s move to inspect Iranian aircraft flying to Syria may appease the United States but also shows how crisis in Damascus has pushed Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki into an ever more delicate balancing act between his two main allies. When he faced a parliamentary revolt this year, he could count on Tehran to pull ... Read More
Scorched earth, a sign of freedom of Syrian opposition town
Sunday, 30 September 2012
Huge photographs of burnt out tanks displayed on the walls of the police station in Aazaz proudly proclaim the town’s capture by Syrian opposition fighters, but they conquered a community whose public buildings have been devastated, largely by their own arms. School buildings lie flattened and the town’s mosque is crushed ... Read More
Yemeni street artists paint to remember
Saturday, 29 September 2012
Yemenis have been lobbying their government to release information on disappeared political activists via the medium of street art in recent weeks. The campaign, entitled “The Walls Remember,” was initiated by 24-year-old artist Murad Subai, a resident of the Yemeni capital Sana’a. Subai wants Yemenis to remember ... Read More
U.N. World Food Program tackles child malnutrition in Yemen
Friday, 28 September 2012
Child malnutrition is a serious problem in Yemen, with almost half of children under age 5-about 2 million children-chronically malnourished and another one million suffering from acute malnourishment. Yemen has the third highest rate of malnutrition in the world. The United Nations World Food Program is responding to the ... Read More
Abstract art blooms in Libya’s Benghazi
Friday, 28 September 2012
A symphony of colors plays on the burnt-out walls of an improvised gallery in the eastern city of Benghazi, where Libyan artists display an abstract mood in the wake of revolution and war. Sculptures forged out of bullet casings and metal springs trace the silhouettes of soldiers in the courtyard of what was ... Read More
Lebanese schools open doors to Syrian refugees
Thursday, 27 September 2012
Lebanese schools announced adding an evening shift to their class schedule in order to allow Syrian refugees an opportunity to continue their education after fleeing violence in their homeland. Alaa, a 15-year-old girl, left her hometown Homs seven months ago and moved to Tripoli in northern Lebanon where she lives with her ... Read More
Syria’s rebel band of brothers
Thursday, 27 September 2012
They are a band of eight Syrian brothers, the youngest just 18 and the oldest 34, who have chosen to battle side by side for their nation against the powerful military of President Bashar al-Assad. Now they are in Aleppo, the northern commercial hub of Syria and its second city, the latest stop on their odyssey ... Read More
Gazans face food shortages as Egypt closes tunnels
Thursday, 27 September 2012
For many years, the tunnel economy in the Gaza Strip was a growing one. Around 1,000 tunnels were dug to smuggle goods, connecting the southern Gaza town of Rafah and the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula. But since an August attack that killed 16 Egyptian border guards in Sinai, the Egyptian government has closed dozens of tunnels. ... Read More
Qatar’s modern future rubs up against conservative traditions
Thursday, 27 September 2012
Qatar is spending massively to modernize its capital ahead of the 2022 World Cup, leading conservative Qataris to worry about how this will affect the Islamic nature of the Gulf state. Trucks can be seen speeding around Doha’s business district, carrying building materials for the $150 billion makeover that will give the ... Read More
Revolutionary press blooms underground in Syria
Thursday, 27 September 2012
In a country suffocated for decades by state censorship and media control, dozens of independent grassroots newspapers and websites have emerged since the outbreak of the Syrian revolt last year. Most of these pro-revolution outlets operate in a shroud of secrecy, their contributors using pseudonyms for fear ... Read More
‘Sharing is caring:’ why many Saudi women don’t mind polygamy
Thursday, 27 September 2012
In Saudi Arabia, polygamy appears to be a solution for women increasingly worried about spinsterhood which is seen as associated with a “shortage” of men. “Saudi men travel a lot and live abroad for long times. This makes them forget about marriage altogether,” Professor of sociology Ibrahim al-Anzi was quoted as saying by ... Read More
Young Gazan challenges obesity due to genetic disorder
Wednesday, 26 September 2012
Eleven-year old Nour from Gaza trudges her legs, carrying her 140-kilogram body. She visits the local medical care center on a monthly basis to monitor her weakening genetic condition. “Her case is medically known as the Prader-Willi Syndrome. It results from a chromosomal disorder, particularly in chromosome number 15. It ... Read More
Female cops maintain law and order in post-revolution Egypt
Wednesday, 26 September 2012
The presence of female cops has been recently sensed in Egyptian streets in what is seen as a positive step towards restructuring the police force, one of the main demands of the Jan. 25 Revolution. “Women are not new to the police force, but their numbers have increased after the revolution,” Brigadier General Ayman Helmy, ... Read More
First Mideast branch of Vogue Café to open in Dubai late 2012
Wednesday, 26 September 2012
The first Vogue Café in the Middle East is set to open in Dubai late this year, publishers Conde Nast International announced on Tuesday. Readers of the high-fashion magazine will be able to enjoy themselves at the café that will be based in Dubai Mall, the Huffington Post reported on Wednesday. The Café has strategically ... Read More
100-year-old Lebanese grandma a devoted social media user
Tuesday, 25 September 2012
Eugenie Bitar, 100, from Lebanon is not your ordinary grandmother. Sitting behind her laptop she makes video calls with loved ones abroad that she hasn’t seen for several years. Bitar said today’s technology and internet is a gift. “There isn’t anyone older than me, however there are many younger ones in this village,” ... Read More