Month: February 2021

Strays find shelter at Dubai's legendary cat cafe

A haven for humans craving furry feline company, a cat cafe in Dubai also doubles as an adoption centre for some of the United Arab Emirates’ many strays. The Ailuromania Cat Cafe, which was the Middle East’s first cat cafe when it opened in 2015, hopes the relaxing properties of its 25 rescue and shelter […]

Green hydrogen exports part of Saudi anti-carbon strategy

Saudi Arabia is offering to transport “green” hydrogen by pipeline to Europe in the next stage of the Kingdom’s strategy to combat climate change. “If Europe would like to buy more hydrogen, Saudi green hydrogen, we would be more than happy, and even, if the economics allow for it, even piping it all the way […]

Saudi press up in arms over Biden, Khashoggi report

Saudi Arabia’s sovereignty is a red line, Saudi columnists said on Sunday, ramping up rhetoric in defense of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after a U.S. intelligence report implicated him in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Prince Mohammed, de facto ruler of the U.S.-allied Gulf powerhouse, has denied any involvement in the 2018 murder […]

Lebanese MP becomes internet celebrity thanks to his meltdowns

Darth Vader, Bruce Lee and Elie Ferzli - only a couple of the many of crossover meme’s Lebanese social media users created following the Lebanese MP and deputy speaker’s meltdowns on television earlier this week. Ferzli found himself going viral and becoming the meme of the moment after losing his cool in three explosive televised […]

Houthis takes hundreds hostage as human shields in Marib offensive

Hundreds of Yemeni families trapped inside their camps in Marib province by Iran-backed Houthis are being used as a human shield against government forces, a Yemen government unit has claimed. In a report seen by Arab News on Saturday, the internationally recognized government’s Executive Unit for IDP Camps said that militia fighters had besieged camps […]

Churches of Mosul on Pope's tour to repair ISIS damage

In Mosul, adjacent to the Biblical city of Nineveh, four churches representing different denominations occupy a small square surrounded by low-rise houses, testament to the role Iraq’s once flourishing Christian community played. Today, all four churches are either damaged or destroyed after Islamic State militants occupied the city from 2014-2017, desecrated many of the buildings […]

Biden poised to make pronouncement on Saudi after Khashoggi report

President Joe Biden on Saturday said his administration would make an announcement on Saudi Arabia on Monday, following a U.S. intelligence report that found Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had approved the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The Biden administration has faced some criticism, notably an editorial in the Washington Post, that the president should […]

Israel says Iran behind cargo ship attack

Israeli defence minister Benny Gantz said on Saturday his “initial assessment” was that Iran was responsible for an explosion on an Israeli-owned ship in the Gulf of Oman. The ship, a vehicle-carrier named MV Helios Ray, suffered an explosion between Thursday and Friday morning. A U.S. defence official in Washington said the blast left holes […]

Lebanon's Maronite Patriarch calls for UN led International Conference to save Lebanon

Maronite Patriarch Beshara el-Rahi said Saturday that his calls for a UN-sponsored international conference for Lebanon are meant to face a "coup situation" in the country. "Our calls for a UN-sponsored international conference are to face a coup situation. Leaving the situation as it is while the state collapses and people get devastated is completely […]

BOOK REVIEW – Angel NicGillicuddy’s poetic play on post-financial meltdown economics

As avid readers of The Levant News you no doubt know the poetry columns we publish by Russell Morris (Angel's section). Morris is an American author who started out life in medical technology only to move to marketing and then to declare an all out war against the evils of ‘hoardable money’. By Emad El-Din […]

Fallout of Khashoggi report going global

The world reacted to the release on Friday of a U.S. intelligence assessment that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved an operation to capture or kill dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi: OFFICE OF U.S. DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE REPORT: “We assess that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey, […]

Professors at Bristol University defend academic freedom against anti-Semiticism charge

Academics at the University of Bristol have urged it to abide by academic freedom and resist firing one of its lecturers, David Miller, who has been accused of anti-Semitism. A professor of political sociology, Miller said Israel wants to “impose its will all over the world,” and it is “fundamental to Zionism to encourage Islamophobia […]

IMF wants Tunisia to further clamp down on wages, subsidies

The International Monetary Fund urged Tunisia on Friday to cut its wage bill and limit energy subsidies to reduce a fiscal deficit, putting more pressure on the fragile government amid a severe financial and political crisis. With the coronavirus pandemic, political infighting and protests since last month over social inequality, it is a time of […]

In wake of Khashoggi report, US sanctions certain Saudi officials and contemplates halting arms sales

The Biden administration announced sanctions and visa bans on Friday targeting Saudi Arabian citizens over the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but stopped short of imposing sanctions on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman himself. U.S. President Joe Biden’s actions in the first weeks of his administration appear aimed at fulfilling campaign promises to realign […]

Protests break out in Iraq ahead of Pope's visit

At least five protesters were killed and more than 175 people injured on Friday in clashes between demonstrators and security forces in the southern Iraqi city of Nassiriya, a Reuters witness and other sources said. Among the fatalities, most died from bullet wounds, a hospital source said, adding that about 120 protesters were wounded. At […]

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