With Qaboos bin Said’s illness seemingly terminal, an elaborate set of rules is enacted
Elaborate discussions are under way in the Omani court about a potential successor to Sultan Qaboos bin Said, who has ruled the Arab nation for nearly 50 years but whose longterm illness has been worsening.
The succession process involves the opening of sealed letters in the court in Muscat identifying the sultan’s choice of successor, if the court cannot agree among itself.
Continue reading...Scar of Bethlehem designed to make people think about how Palestinians live in divided city
Banksy’s latest piece – the artist’s take on a nativity scene – has been unveiled at a hotel in Bethlehem.
The Scar of Bethlehem features a nativity scene with Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus, but instead of a star hanging over the crib there is what appears to be a large bullet hole piercing an imposing grey wall.
Continue reading...When the Observer spoke to people in the besieged city three years ago, they told of their daily struggle. Now they tell their stories of exile
In December 2016, in the eastern half of Aleppo, a brutal siege was drawing to a bloody end. The last bombs were falling on its shattered streets, snipers were picking off their last victims. Besieged civilians, if they still had food, prepared their final meagre meals inside a city they had clung to for four painful years.
Continue reading...‘This isn’t good,’ state department official says as Russian mercenaries backing Khalifa Haftar turn conflict into bloodier one
The United States is “very concerned” about the intensification of the conflict in Libya, with a rising number of reported Russian mercenaries supporting warlord Khalifa Haftar’s forces on the ground turning the conflict into a bloodier one, a senior state department official said on Saturday.
Related: Libyan government activates cooperation accord with Turkey
Continue reading...Social network suspends thousands in the latest crackdown on state-sponsored propaganda
Twitter said on Friday it had suspended thousands of accounts linked to a manipulation effort stemming from Saudi Arabia, in the latest crackdown on state-sponsored propaganda efforts.
The social network said some 88,000 accounts being blocked were linked to Saudi state-backed “information operations” in violation of Twitter’s platform manipulation rules.
Continue reading...Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu hits out at ‘baseless and scandalous decision’
There is sufficient evidence to investigate alleged Israeli and Palestinian war crimes committed in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, the international criminal court has announced.
In a landmark decision, the ICC said it saw “no substantial reasons to believe that an investigation would not serve the interests of justice”.
Continue reading...Impasse continues as Russia calls for reduction in number of crossings for delivering aid
Vital cross-border aid to Syria is under threat after the UN security council was unable to overcome Russian and Chinese objections to the programme.
The aid, which is sent over borders at four UN approved checkpoints and without the formal permission of the Syrian regime, is seen as critical as the humanitarian crisis in Idlib and north-east Syria continues to mount.
Continue reading...After 39 months of waiting for his wages Vikash Mishra will finally be able to return home to his family in Mumbai
For the past three years, Vikash Mishra, a merchant seaman from Mumbai, has been stranded on a rusting cargo ship at sea in the United Arab Emirates, thousands of miles from his young family, after being abandoned by the vessel’s owner.
His 39-month ordeal, which he describes as “mental torture”, was covered by the Guardian in July, when conditions in the busy shipping lane became so dangerous after the vessel developed engine failure that he and three crew members feared for their lives.
Continue reading...Hassan Diab could be in post at weekend despite unpopularity with those demanding change
Lebanon’s head of state has named a new prime minister in an effort to break a political deadlock that has paralysed the country and left it unable to deal with a dire financial crisis that threatens to sink its economy within weeks.
However, the designation of Hassan Diab, a former minister and university professor, failed to spark enthusiasm, exposing yet again the depths of divisions across the fractured political spectrum and among a public that has little faith in the stewardship of its leaders.
Continue reading...Two of England’s most prestigious Premier League football clubs, both owned by US investors, have been confronted by international human rights abuses in recent days, and responded with starkly contrasting positions. Liverpool, who as European champions are competing in Qatar in Fifa’s Club World Cup, produced a carefully diplomatic statement which nevertheless managed to be forthright in supporting improved conditions for migrant workers labouring in the Gulf.
Campaigners had asked the club to consider using its reputational power to highlight the deaths of many young men working on construction projects in baking heat. Its chief executive, Peter Moore, challenged Qatar to seriously address the risks of heat stress for workers, reaching into Liverpool’s own heritage to say that any and all unexplained deaths should be investigated thoroughly and bereaved families should receive the justice they deserve. That call for accountability was woven into a more predictable corporate clarification: “We remain a sporting organisation and it is important that we are not drawn into global issues on the basis of where our involvement in various competitions dictates that our fixtures take place.”
Continue reading...Congresswoman calls on US Syria envoy to give full briefing on October incident in border town
Four US congressional Democrats have written to Donald Trump’s Syria envoy asking him to spell out what information the US has about the alleged use of white phosphorus by Turkey against Syrian Kurdish civilians in October.
Ilhan Omar and three of her colleagues in the House of Representatives called on Jim Jeffrey to provide a full briefing – in private if necessary – into whether it believes the incident during the Turkish invasion two months ago amounts to a war crime.
Continue reading...This remarkable example of ‘slow journalism’ links the pharaohs with Egypt’s Arab spring
Of all the ill-fated revolutions of the Arab spring, none started more optimistically, or ended more disappointingly, than that of Egypt. President Hosni Mubarak, who was overthrown with such rejoicing at the beginning of the revolution in 2011, was perhaps not the worst of the Arab dictators. His rise, on the classless elevator of the Egyptian armed forces, was entirely the result of his competence in the military. Cairo intellectuals disliked his backslapping air-force bonhomie and quickly dubbed him “La vache qui rit”, after the laughing cow on the French processed cheese to whom the president was said to bear a resemblance.
For two decades Mubarak provided Egypt with a plodding yet stable government, which many compared favourably with the attention-seeking antics of his predecessors Nasser and Sadat. It should not be forgotten that his ministers were corrupt, his police casually and strikingly brutal, and torture in Egyptian prisons was rife. Yet his regime was still better than its counterparts in Syria and Iraq.
Continue reading...Gulf state says it plans to end kafala system in response to criticism of migrant workers’ treatment
The Qatari official in charge of organising the most controversial edition of the football World Cup since the tournament’s inception in 1930 has claimed that criticism of his country’s treatment of migrant workers will have a ripple effect that will improve regional labour standards.
The 2022 World Cup has been dogged by criticism of its host’s kafala system, which ties migrant workers to so-called sponsorship by their employer, meaning they cannot move jobs or leave the country without the employer’s approval.
Continue reading...Many of the restrictions were announced in early days of occupation of West Bank
Palestinians in the West Bank are still being prosecuted under military orders that were designed to keep the peace in the early days of an occupation and that have stifled civil rights in the territory for more than 50 years, a watchdog group says.
The restrictions, some of which are based on laws passed during the British colonial era, are regularly used to break up protests, close radio stations and arrest activists under charges such as “attempt[ing] to influence public opinion … in a manner that may harm public order,” according to a report by Human Rights Watch.
Continue reading...Ridouan Taghi was sought on international arrest warrants for murder and drug trafficking
Police in Dubai have arrested the suspected head of a cocaine trafficking gang described as the most wanted man in the Netherlands.
Ridouan Taghi, 41, who was wanted on international arrest warrants for murder and drug trafficking, was held at a house in the Gulf emirate on Monday.
Continue reading...Security forces fire tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons in the violent clashes
Lebanese security forces fired teargas, rubber bullets and water cannons to disperse hundreds of protesters for a second straight day, ending what started as a peaceful rally in defiance of the toughest crackdown on anti-government demonstrations in two months.
The violence on Sunday comes on the eve of a meeting between the president and parliamentary blocs in which Saad Hariri, who resigned as prime minister on 29 October, is widely expected to be renamed to the post.
Continue reading...Ankara ready to defend government in Tripoli in latest policy to inflame tensions with US, EU, Greece and Middle East countries
The threat of a military clash in the Mediterranean has drawn nearer following talks in which Turkey has underlined its willingness to send troops to Libya to defend the country’s UN-recognised government.
Such a move would risk a direct military confrontation with General Khalifa Haftar, the eastern Libyan military warlord who is thought to be planning a decisive assault on the government of national accord in Tripoli, or GNA. Either the UAE or Egypt, which are supporting Haftar’s forces, might also become involved.
Continue reading...Deposed president convicted of corruption, receiving illegal gifts and possessing foreign currency
Omar al-Bashir, the former president of Sudan, has been sentenced to two years in detention after being found guilty of corruption, receiving illegal gifts and possessing foreign currency.
Bashir has been in prison in Khartoum since being forced from power in April when security forces withdrew their support for his repressive regime after months of protests.
Continue reading...Two recent biographies of ‘Bibi’ pose fascinating questions regarding attitudes to Israel among American Jews
Like abortion and taxes, Benjamin Netanyahu’s Israel is one more flashpoint in America under Donald Trump. As millennials, minorities, women and liberals don’t readily cotton to the 45th president, their support for the Jewish state cannot be assumed. In the words of a recent Economist/YouGov poll: “When it comes to Israel, American views are partisan.”
Related: Free, Melania review: Trump book skips the birther question
Continue reading...Thousands of people took to the streets in central Algiers, as the authorities held a presidential election that the mass protest movement views as a charade intended to keep the ruling elite in power. Local media showed videos of demonstrators throwing ballot papers to the ground. Only 33% of Algerians turned out to vote
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