Tag Archives: people

Several Syrian regime airstrikes on the city of Raqa, the self-proclaimed capital of extremist group Islamic State (IS), on Tuesday caused the death of 63 people, over half of whom were civilians. The airstrikes were the deadliest attack by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s air force on the city since it was seized by the IS last year. “Among the 63 …

Extremist group Islamic State (IS) on Thursday claimed a suicide car bomb attack in the city of Arbil, the usually secure capital of the autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq. In an online statement, the IS boasted that it had “breached all the security checkpoints of the agent Kurdistan government and reached the heart of the city of Arbil”. It also …

By Ramzy Baroud When a journalist tries to do a historian’s job, the outcome can be quite interesting. Using history as a side note in a brief news report or political analysis oftentimes does more harm than good. Now imagine if that journalist was not dependable to begin with, even more than it being “interesting”, the outcome runs the risk …

On Wednesday, Egypt hailed a “new era” in Arab solidarity after the Gulf nations agreed to welcome Qatar back into the fold following a dispute over it support of Islamists. Egypt said that it had offered its full support to the move, which it called as “huge step towards Arab solidarity”. “We look forward to a new era that would …

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Tuesday warned that 2-3 million more Syrian refugees could enter the country if the Syrian city of Aleppo is overrun by either regime or extremist forces. Turkey already hosts 1.5 million Syrian refugees and has repeatedly stated that it can barely support the overwhelming number of refugees. Cavusoglu also said that supporting the rebel …

Rami Khouri, on the turbulent road to democracy in the Middle East – Canadian Arab Institute There is no such thing as ‘the Arabs’ or ‘the Arab World’ says Rami Khouri, the director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs of the American University of Beirut (AUB). Instead, there are 360 million Arab people, and 22 …

A new report by the Norwegian Refugee Council and the International Rescue Committee released on Wednesday suggested that the plight of Syrian refugees fleeing the civil war has reached “a new level of hopelessness” as overstretched neighboring countries make it a lot more difficult to escape and developed nations like the US only resettle a small number of refugees. According …

United Nations refugee agency UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Tuesday said that it has been forced to reduce the number of people in Iraq and Syria it provides aid to in Syria during the winter due to a lack of funds. “The whole humanitarian community is facing shortfalls. People are becoming numb”, Amin Awad, the head of the …

Syria has released around 11,000 detainees since the declaration of a general amnesty in June, Syria’s National Reconciliation Minister Ali Haidar said. However, several rights groups claim that over 200,000 people are still withering away in government jails. Haider on Monday told AFP that “11,000 people have benefited from the amnesty and been released from prison”, referring to the “general …

This is unfortunate, because both tell stories that are fascinating, suspenseful and moving, and at the same time, they do public service by documenting virtually unknown histories with unexpected, unforgettable heroes.  Enemy of the Reich: The Noor Inayat Khan Story is a docudrama exploring the life of an Indian-American Muslim woman who became one of Britain’s least likely but most …