With a shared history in addition to geographic, religious and economic ties with the rest of Africa, why is Moroccan identity controversial? COMMENT | Richard Ali – BIRD AGENCY | When Morocco held firm with a 1-0 win over Portugal despite Portugal’s dominance in the quarterfinal match at the Qatar …
Read More »The Arab wants you
The pleasure and pain of a Middle East job Kampala, Uganda | FLAVIA NASSAKA | Rayan Kaahwa has lost count of the money he has spent chasing a job in Dubai. It started in May when he was lured to abandon his small retail shop to pay $700 to a labour …
Read More »Arab states aim to block Israeli Security Council bid: Palestinian FM
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | AFP | A campaign by Arab states to block Israel’s bid for a Security Council seat has gained support weeks ahead of a scheduled UN vote, the Palestinian foreign minister said Thursday. “We are doing everything possible to convince as many countries as possible to block …
Read More »IMF chief urges Arab states to slash spending
Dubai, United Arab Emirates | AFP | IMF chief Christine Lagarde on Saturday urged Arab countries to slash public wages and subsidies in order to rein in spending, achieve sustainable growth and create jobs. Speaking at the one-day Arab Fiscal Forum in Dubai, Lagarde welcomed “promising” reforms adopted by some …
Read More »Emirates airline profit rebounds on cost savings
Dubai, United Arab Emirates | AFP | Leading Middle East airline Emirates said Thursday its half year net profit rebounded strongly from a slump last year due to cost saving measures and favourable exchange rates. The Dubai flag carrier said it posted a net profit of $452 million in the period …
Read More »Morocco quits Africa-Arab summit over presence of Polisario
Malabo, Equatorial Guinea | AFP | Morocco and several Arab countries walked out of an Africa-Arab nations summit in Equatorial Guinea on Wednesday to protest the presence of a delegation from the Polisario Front, media reports said. Morocco, which is a big investor in Africa, quit the fourth Africa-Arab World …
Read More »ANALYSIS: Arabs view US election with indifference or loathing
Cairo, Egypt | AFP | In Cairo, capital of the most populous Arab country, the US election is met with self-absorbed indifference or loathing for one, and sometimes both, candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. The staff at a barber shop in Cairo’s middle class Dokki neighbourhood looked at one …
Read More »Little mourning for Shimon Peres in Arab world
Cairo, Egypt | AFP | Mourned internationally as a peacemaker, Israeli ex-president Shimon Peres’s death has met with official silence in most Arab countries, where public opinion vilified the Nobel laureate as a “war criminal”. Of the 21 Arab states, only two — Egypt and Jordan — have full diplomatic …
Read More »The Arab world’s impending triple crisis
By Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed As early as 2015, the average Arab will be forced to survive on less than 500 cubic meters of water per year, a level defined as severe scarcity Economic want and inequality, as much as political repression, incited the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions. It is, of …
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