News and analysis

Dubai: Saudi Arabia’s interior ministry has banned 50 given names including “foreign” names, names related to royalty and those it considers to be blasphemous. Saudis will no longer be able to give their children names such as Amir (prince), Linda or Abdul Nabi (Slave of the Prophet) after the civil …

It was Turkey’s Shia (Jaafari) community’s turn to be offended by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as he criticized the Gulen faith movement, which he holds responsible for revealing the corruption files. Talking about Gulenists on a TV program, Erdogan said, “These people have three major characteristics. They practice taqiyya [religiously sanctioned dissimulation], they lie, they slander. As a result …

An alleged plot by Qatar to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has been the main reason behind Riyadh’s withdrawal of its ambassador from Doha, a political analyst says. Citing diplomatic sources, Egyptian newspaper al-Shorouk‘s Editor-in-Chief Emad El-Din Hussein said in a recent interview that Saudi Arabia is in possession of authentic …

The Syrian army has taken full control of the southwestern town of Yabroud, the last major stronghold of foreign-backed militants near the Lebanese border.  Syrian forces carried out mop-up operations pushing back the militants from the strategic town in the mountainous region of Qalamoun. In their latest drive to clear …

Syrian army troops were at the gates of the rebel bastion of Yabrud near the Lebanese border Friday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. State television confirmed the news, reporting: “Syrian army units have advanced in the Yabrud area and now control its eastern approaches and northeastern boundary.” The …

Thousands of Zaidi rebels marched through a provincial capital in northern Yemen on Friday to demand the resignation of the central government, which they accused of corruption, witnesses said. With many toting assault rifles and accompanied by vehicles mounted with rocket launchers, they chanted “down with the corrupt government,” as …

The West is planning a new push against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad through funding proxy war on the conflict-stricken country, a report suggests. The British daily The Guardian reported that a fresh clandestine effort is under way for opening up a “southern front” against the Syrian president. A secret command …

New research suggests that as many as one in seven Dutch institutional investors have excluded companies involved in the Israeli occupation of Palestine in the course of the last five years. “This is an indication that it is not uncommon,” explains a new report. “Many of these institutional investors did …

Comedians say that the art of telling jokes relies on “timing.” Israeli’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the world’s top comic politician, seemed to be proving the point with his “timely” claims about seizing Iranian rockets aboard a cargo ship in the Red Sea. Standing in front of 40 pointed missiles, …

The New York Times US daily revealed that Hizbullah’s participation in Syria war has been a source of foreboding to the Zionist entity. Quoting “Israeli” officials and experts, the newspaper stated: “Hizbullah is acquiring battlefield experience, and the only way for al- Assad, a longtime Hizbullah ally, to repay the …