Socotra and Little Sparta
While the war on the Yemeni mainland drags on with daily deaths from violence inflicted from all sides and a largely ignored humanitarian crisis, there is a new twist in the overall dreadful scenario. The island of Socotra, one of the most biologically unique islands in the world, is in danger of being taken over de facto if not de jure by the United More...
Minister for Foreign Affairs calls on Israel to respect the right to peaceful protest
The Minister for Foreign Affairs Margot Wallström calls on Israel to respect the right to peaceful protest. Every state, Israel included, has a right to defend its borders, but all measures taken must be proportionate More...
Fast from sunrise to nightfall
Islam is the world’s second largest religion, after Christianity, with more than 1 billion followers. Islam originated in Arabia and has spread all over the world. Countries with the largest Muslim populations More...
It takes a liar…
There is a saying, and a song by the American rock group “Taking Back Sunday”, that it takes a liar to know a liar. In the case of Oliver North, the newly elected president of the National Rifle Association More...
A Kingly look at Islamic Astronomy
All societies have star lore, using the movements of stars and other celestial phenomena to tell time and direction. The formal science of astronomy, with roots in ancient Mesopotamia and Greece, evolved in the More...
Popular Costumes of Turks in 1873
In 1873 the Turkish Imperial Commission for the Universal Exposition in Vienna published a beautifully illustrated, large-sized book entitled Les Costumes Populaires de la Turquie en 1873. It was published in Constantinople More...
Meanwhile in Yemen…
The episode in early April of a poison gas attack in Douma, a city near Damascus, that led to a measured missile attack by the U.S., Britain and France, has understandably been the focus of media attention for the More...
Isolating Qatar
On June 5, 2016 Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain began a boycott of its Gulf neighbor Qatar, the richest country in the world, cutting off land and air travel over their space. No doubt the same countries that More...
President Trump expresses solidarity with Saudi Arabia
President Donald J. Trump spoke on Monday with King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia. King Salman thanked the President for hosting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House. President More...
No Alibi for Tit for Tat
The Saudi-led bombing campaign of Yemen has entered its fourth year with no end in sight. The humanitarian crisis created by the bombing runs is one of the worst in the world, so bad that the UN has just asked donors More...