There is still no confirmed news about the fate of Saudi opposition writer Jamal Khashoggi, who disappeared last Tuesday when he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to conduct some transactions. The Turkish authorities believe that the prominent Saudi journalist, who disappeared a few days ago, was killed inside the consulate. “The initial assessment of…
Formerly known as French Somaliland (1883-1967) and renamed the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas (1967-1977), the colony took the name of Djibouti when it gained the independence from France in 1977. With a total area of barely more than 20,000 km2 (little smaller than the Italian region of Lombardy) and a population of approximately one…
Since May 15, human rights groups have reported that Saudi Arabia has arrested at least 11 women’s right activists, seven women and four men. The crackdown has taken place just few weeks before the lifting of the driving ban on women. The activists arrested, well-known in Saudi Arabia for campaigning for women’s right to drive…
It is wrong at first to call it a struggle, because it arose as a doctrinal disagreement in some jurisprudential matters between the Sunni and Shiite communities. The beginning of the dispute came with the first sedition going through the Islamic nation, the sedition that led to the death of the third caliph Uthman ibn…
When Saudi Arabia launched a diplomatic crusade against Qatar last June, it was widely speculated that the crisis would reach a swift resolution, as was the case with a similar situation three years prior. However, 2014 saw a quieter conflict in which the diplomatic impasse was relieved after a series of clandestine agreements were struck. The…
In the past few years, the Islamic State has constantly urged to commit attacks in Europe, by any means, also explicitly mentioning the use of cars or trucks into the crowd. Yesterday at least 14 people were killed and 100 injured on Barcelona’s most popular street in what police confirmed was a terror attack. The…
On June 5, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Yemen cut diplomatic relations with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting “terrorism”. The list of demands, relayed to Qatar can be summarised as being to “align itself with other Arabs and the Gulf, militarily, politically, socially and economically, as well as in financial matters”.…
Let’s think again about Arab Springs, that series of anti-governmental protests affecting Arab countries of North Africa and the Middle East originated in Tunisia in late 2010. The uprisings moved from one Arab country to another until they reached Yemen in 2011. Many people came to the streets against the Government. No-one could imagine the…
