Category Archives: Middle East and North Africa

Syrian refugees help put centuries-old glassware on show in Paisley

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Thirty-piece collection was bequeathed to museum in 1948 and recently rediscovered

An unusual collection of 2,000-year-old glassware is providing Syrian refugees in the Renfrewshire town of Paisley with a connection to their homeland, five years after they settled in Scotland.

The 30-piece collection, dating back to Roman times, was bequeathed to Paisley Museum in 1948 by Elizabeth Spiers Paterson, the daughter of thread manufacturers, and is believed to have been acquired from antiquities dealers in Syria, known as the birthplace of glass-making.

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US poll chaos is a boon for the enemies of democracy the whole world over

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While Democrats and Republicans squabble in Washington, injustice and violence reigns from Palestine to Mozambique

Believe it or not, the world did not stop turning on its axis because of the US election and ensuing, self-indulgent disputes in the land of the free-for-all. In the age of Donald Trump, narcissism spreads like the plague.

But the longer the wrangling in Washington continues, the greater the collateral damage to America’s global reputation – and to less fortunate states and peoples who rely on the US and the western allies to fly the flag for democracy and freedom.

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Nearly 100 coffins buried over 2,500 years ago found in Egypt

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Mummies and up to 40 gilded statues found in a vast Pharaonic necropolis south of Cairo

Egyptian antiquities officials have announced the discovery of at least 100 ancient coffins, some with mummies inside, and about 40 gilded statues in a vast Pharaonic necropolis south of Cairo.

Sealed sarcophagi and statues that were buried more than 2,500 years ago were displayed in a makeshift exhibit at the feet of the famed Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara.

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Israeli agents in Iran kill al-Qaida’s top lieutenant – report

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Abu Muhammad al-Masri was gunned down in Tehran more than three months ago, says New York Times

Al-Qaida’s second-in-command was killed in Iran in August by Israeli operatives acting at the behest of the United States, the New York Times has reported, citing intelligence officials.

Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah, who went by the nom de guerre Abu Muhammad al-Masri, was gunned down by two men on a motorcycle in Tehran, the NYT reported. He was accused of helping to mastermind the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in Africa.

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Eight international peacekeepers killed in Sinai helicopter crash

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Six Americans, one Czech and one French citizen killed and only survivor in critical state

A helicopter carrying members of a multinational peacekeeping force has crashed near Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula, killing six Americans, a Czech and a French citizen.

The US-led Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) said in a statement that all but one of the nine people onboard were killed when the aircraft went down “during a routine operation”.

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More than 110 migrants die in Mediterranean in three days

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Bodies of 74 people wash up on beach in western Libya as baby boy dies on rescue boat

Four shipwrecks in the space of three days have claimed the lives of more than 110 people in the Mediterranean, including at least 70 people whose bodies have washed up on the beach of al-Khums, in western Libya.

According to the UN migration agency (IOM), that boat was reported to be carrying more than 120 people, including women and children. Forty-seven survivors had been brought to shore by the coastguard and fishermen, while the bodies of at least 74 people were floating near the water’s edge on Thursday.

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Dutch police arrest man over Saudi embassy shooting

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No injuries after shots fired at building in The Hague day after attack on WW1 event in Jeddah

Dutch police have arrested a man after multiple shots were fired at the Saudi embassy in The Hague, causing damage but no injuries.

The incident occurred the day after a bomb exploded at a first world war commemoration attended by foreign diplomats in the Saudi city of Jeddah.

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Dozens of Sudanese migrants held in Cairo after protests

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The killing of a 12-year-old boy sparked calls for justice and action to counter human rights violations of black African refugees in Egypt

Dozens of Sudanese refugees and migrants have been arrested after protests over the murder of a young boy in Cairo.

Amnesty International said about 70 people, including children, were arrested by Egyptian security forces after what it said were two peaceful protests on 29 October.

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Qatari officials intimidated claimants in terror case, high court told

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Met police counter-terror unit has been asked to investigate allegations, court hears

Counter-terrorism police have been asked to investigate claims that witnesses and claimants in a terror-funding case were intimidated by officials working for the state of Qatar, the high court has been told.

Allegations of perverting the course of justice emerged at the hearing in London on Wednesday in a case involving compensation claims submitted originally by eight Syrian refugees against Doha Bank, the headquarters of which are in the Gulf state.

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Several injured in explosion at Saudi Armistice Day event

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France condemns ‘cowardly attack’ at Jeddah ceremony for foreign diplomatic staff

Several people have been wounded in an explosion in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah during a ceremony to commemorate the end of the first world war attended by staff from foreign diplomatic missions, officials have said.

“The embassies involved condemn this cowardly attack, which is wholly unjustified,” the French foreign ministry said. “They call on the Saudi authorities to shed as much light as they can on this attack, and to identify and hunt down the perpetrators.”

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The life and death of White Helmets’ founder James Le Mesurier

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James Le Mesurier died a year ago today. The Guardian’s Martin Chulov describes the immense pressure the co-founder of the White Helmets was under, as he saw the organisation he built appear to be slipping away from him

In November 2019, James Le Mesurier, the British co-founder of the Syrian rescue group known as the White Helmets, fell to his death in Istanbul.

The Guardian’s Middle East correspondent, Martin Chulov, knew James well and had spoken to him the week before his death. He tells Anushka Asthana how he began investigating one of the most difficult stories of his career: what led his friend, an internationally celebrated humanitarian, to take his own life?

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Gunmen shoot dead female Libyan dissident in busy Benghazi street

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Hanan al-Barassi was an outspoken critic of abuses in areas controlled by the Libyan National Army

Gunmen have shot dead a prominent female dissident on a busy street in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, in the latest killing of a critic of military strongman Khalifa Haftar.

Hanan al-Barassi, an outspoken critic of abuses in the eastern areas controlled by Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA), was shot dead in her car in broad daylight on 20th Street, a busy artery in Benghazi’s city centre, rights groups and security officials said.

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Saeb Erekat, veteran Palestinian peace negotiator, dies after Covid diagnosis

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Key PLO figure and advocate for two-state solution dies aged 65

Saeb Erekat, the veteran Palestinian peace negotiator and one of the most high-profile figures in its leadership since the early 1990s, has died after contracting coronavirus.

Erekat, a lawmaker from Jericho in the occupied West Bank, was a senior adviser to the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, and also worked for Abbas’s predecessor, Yasser Arafat. He served as the secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

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Trump poised to leave legacy of chaos with last-minute foreign policy moves | Analysis

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Analysis: With defence secretary’s firing and potential new Iran sanctions, Trump raises fears over impact of a vengeful president

The abrupt dismissal of the US defence secretary, Mark Esper, and reported plans for multiple layers of new sanctions on Iran have made clear that Donald Trump’s last 10 weeks in office could still prove a very bumpy ride for the rest of the world.

Trump is refusing to concede his loss to Joe Biden and, while he launches a quiver of baseless legal challenges to the results, he is also seeking to demonstrate he is still in charge of foreign and defence policy – fueling fears about the impact a vengeful president might have on the US role on the world stage over the coming 10 weeks of transition.

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Russia and China silence speaks volumes as leaders congratulate Biden

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Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping stay silent while Iran waits to see how US will compensate for Trump sanctions

Most world leaders rushed to congratulate Joe Biden on his election, but Russia and China, two likely losers from the defeat of Donald Trump, remained silent, perhaps waiting for the outgoing president to concede defeat.

The president of the Maldives, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, is thought to be the first to have congratulated Biden, tweeting his welcome within 24 minutes of the US networks declaring Biden victorious. By contrast, Vladimir Putin, accused of collusion in Trump’s 2016 victory, and Xi Jinping kept their counsel.

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Art as resistance: exiled Kurdish artist’s daring Istanbul show

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Zehra Doğan spent nearly three years in Turkish jails and smuggled out her works as dirty laundry

An exiled artist who spent almost three years in jail in Turkey is shining a light on Kurdish feminism with a daring exhibition of works she created while behind bars.

Zehra Doğan was among the thousands of people who have been caught up in arrests and detentions in Turkey since the 2016 attempted coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government. Those detained are accused of either supporting the Gülenist movement, blamed for the failed putsch, or the Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK), a militant group, both of which are outlawed.

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UAE decriminalises alcohol and lifts ban on unmarried couples living together

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Country also ends lenient punishments for ‘honour’ killings as part of reforms

The United Arab Emirates has ended lenient punishments for so-called “honour” killings, lifted a ban on unmarried couples living together and decriminalised alcohol, in reforms to personal laws.

Foreigners living in the Gulf state will also be able to follow their home country’s laws on divorce and inheritance, rather than using UAE legislation based on Islamic religious law, government-linked media reported.

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United Arab Emirates to relax Islamic laws on personal freedoms

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Country to end lenient punishments for ‘honour’ killings and decriminalise alcohol amid reforms

The United Arab Emirates has ended lenient punishments for so-called “honour” killings, lifted a ban on unmarried couples living together and decriminalised alcohol, in reforms to personal laws.

Foreigners living in the Gulf state will also be able to follow their home country’s laws on divorce and inheritance, rather than using UAE legislation based on Islamic religious law, government-linked media reported.

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Iran temporarily frees human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh

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Release follows warnings about her health after six-week hunger strike

Iran has temporarily released Nasrin Sotoudeh, a prominent lawyer who was jailed two years ago on spying and propaganda charges, the judiciary’s news agency reported.

Sotoudeh’s release followed warnings last month by human rights groups that her health had severely deteriorated after she staged a six-week hunger strike to demand the release of political prisoners and rights activists.

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