In Damascus, change is the norm
Halfway through watching acclaimed Scottish playwright David Grieg's latest production "Damascus on Sunday at the Sawy Culture Wheel, I came to a rather startling realization: This is a rare occasion…
Indonesian porn law turns off folk dancers
Gyrating her hips to traditional gamelan music on a makeshift village stage, Indonesian folk dancer Sri Wulandari ignores the leers and wolf whistles of the drunk men below as she…
North Korea's missile Tantrum
SEOUL: Once again, tension is rising across Asia over North Korea's missile program. Unlike its previous "surprise missile launches, North Korea's government this time notified international agencies in advance that…
Shifting the goalposts of strategy
History reminds us that Afghanistan long ago acquired the label of tomb of empires . US President Barack Obama at least admits that the US is not winning there and…
Israel has already won
These are dangerous times in the Arab World. The glimmers of hope which first emerged in the mid-1990s that the Arab-Israeli conflict could be resolved (the emphasis here is on…
Bahais flee village after attacks on their homes
CAIRO: Families belonging to the minority religious sect of Bahais from the Egyptian village of El-Shoraneyya, Sohag, had to flee for their lives after their homes came under attack."They threw…
Omar Effendi workers continue sit-in for third day
CAIRO: Employees of the Omar Effendi department store continued their sit-in for the third day on Thursday outside the department store s Downtown Cairo headquarters in protest at alleged wage…
COMMENTARY: Shoddy journalism and the AUC affair
In my journalism class, Al-Masry Al-Youm's story on a purportedly "secret information deal between the American University in Cairo and the Pentagon would have received a failing mark.What is true…
Word on the Street: Egyptians pessimistic, indifferent about unemployment rates
CAIRO: A staggering 300,000 employees are expected to lose their jobs in 2009, the Center for Trade Union and Workers Services warned as President Hosni Mubarak called for creating new…