An air strike killed seven people at a charity-supported hospital on Tuesday as Yemenis rallied to show support for the Houthi movement on the fourth anniversary of a war that has killed thousands and pushed the country to the brink of starvation. The Iran-aligned Houthis have controlled the capital Sanaa and Yemen‘s largest populated areas since 2014 when they ousted the government of… Read more »
BEIRUT — Efforts by Arab states to reengage with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, now that he has prevailed in the war, have been put on hold after a push by the United States to deter its allies from renewing ties with his government. A decision late last year by the United Arab Emirates to reopen its embassy in Damascus and overtures… Read more »
DEIR DIBWAN, West Bank — Palestinians in this town woke one morning last month to find their mosque vandalized, with a Star of David painted on the exterior alongside Hebrew graffiti accusing it of preaching “incitement.” “We are at an alarming point,” said Barakat Mahmoud, the mosque’s imam. “We’ve never had direct confrontation with the settlers in this town.” The incident… Read more »
BEIRUT — Syrians who remained loyal to President Bashar al-Assad throughout the past eight years of war are increasingly expressing discontent with his government as living standards in the country continue to deteriorate even as the conflict winds down. Conditions are dire for most of the 19 million Syrians living across the ravaged country, including in the roughly one-third that remains outside government control…. Read more »
CAIRO — An airstrike, most likely by the Saudi-led coalition, hit near a rural hospital in northern Yemen, killing eight people including five children, according to the charity Save the Children, which supports the facility. Tuesday’s attack was the latest of many on nonmilitary targets that have killed thousands of civilians in the Middle East’s poorest nation. It came on the… Read more »
The Supreme Court in the United States prevented American sailors injured in the deadly 2000 al-Qaeda bombing of the navy destroyer USS Cole from collecting $314.7m in damages from the government of Sudan for its alleged role in the attack. In a 8-1 ruling, the justices on Tuesday overturned a lower court’s decision that had allowed the sailors to collect… Read more »
Istanbul, Turkey – As Turkey prepares for Sunday’s local elections, ensuring a free and fair vote is foremost in the minds of many across the country. Ballots across all 81 provinces will decide local officials, from neighbourhood and village representatives all the way up to the mayors of metropolitan municipalities in charge of massive budgets. While in many countries local… Read more »
After five years in prison, Alaa Abdel Fattah, a high-profile Egyptian blogger and rights activist, is due to be released from prison on Wednesday, his family said. His sister Mona Seif, a prominent human rights activist herself who founded the No to Military Rule movement, tweeted that the family was still waiting for the release process to begin. “We hope… Read more »
Washington, DC – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday that the US will continue to work to identify those responsible for the murder of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi and “hold them accountable”. Pompeo was confronted by Congressman Gerry Connolly about Khashoggi’s murder during a congressional hearing. Connelly is a Virginia Democrat in whose district Khashoggi resided. Khashoggi… Read more »
Part 1: The Issue of Informal Settlements The Republic of India has had a long history with informal settlements. It is currently estimated that around 64 million of India’s citizens live in dangerous and unsanitary slums. India has tried to implement an agency known as Keep India Beautiful, their goal is to educate people about cleanliness, tackling litter, waste minimization,… Read more »