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Sunday, May 24, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Arabs Rise for Rights
U.S. Ready to Cut Egypt’s Debt
As reports surfaced Tuesday that U.S. negotiators, in Cairo for the past week, are closing in on an agreement to cut a billion dollars from Egypt’s bilateral debt, the State Department here announced that a record-sized U.S. business delegation would travel to Egypt later this week.
Egyptian Hospitals Under Attack as Patients Lose Patience
The emergency room of Mansoura International Hospital is closed, a lock and chain securing its entrance. Ambulances carrying stroke and burn victims are ordered to go elsewhere.
Libyan Weapons Arming Regional Conflicts
In the aftermath of Libya’s revolution, Libyan fighters and weapons are flooding areas of conflict in neighbouring countries, according to local fighters and officials in several countries.
Long Wait to Defect From Assad’s Forces
"Of course I want to defect but I cannot give up my salary. How could I possibly feed my 11 children?" The war is putting every Syrian on the brink, including this policeman on the side of President Bashar Al Assad.
Knocking on an Uncertain Gateway to the World
“I waited from 10 am till 5 pm for my wife to cross from Egypt. She was among many hundreds who were coming into Gaza. Some waited since 6 am, some since the day before.”
Palestinian and Israeli Kids Play a Serious Game
On a sunny summer afternoon, kids start arriving with their parents at a park near Ein Rafa, a Palestinian village in the south of Jerusalem. The Arabic speaking kids stay in one cluster at first, and the Hebrew speaking kids chat among themselves. Soon a ball appears, and before long all the kids intermingle in a fast-paced game of Chinese football.
Detention in Italy Better Than Home in Tunisia
A year ago Salim, a 23-year-old from the ancient Tunisian city Gafsa decided to leave his country using a smugglers’ network notorious for transporting desperate Tunisian citizens to Europe by boat.
There’s Bride at the End of the Tunnel
Mai Ahmed, a 26–year-old from the West Bank fell in love over the Internet with Mohammed Warda from Nussirat refugee camp in Gaza after they ‘met’ on the Internet. The Israeli government refused permission for her to travel to Gaza. Mai travelled to Jordan, flew from there to Egypt, drove across the Sinai, and then crossed through a tunnel into Gaza, where she now lives. “It’s a story I will tell my grandchildren,” she says.
Israeli Soldiers Show No Mercy to Palestinian Children
In a hamlet of the occupied West Bank, the testimony goes, Israeli troops chase a Palestinian child. “He was about two metres away – the company commander cocked his weapon in his face...The kid fell on the ground, crying and begging for his life.”
Veil Falls Over Egyptian Media
The former regime of Hosni Mubarak tightly controlled the press and intimidated journalists who dared to criticise it. Now it appears the Muslim Brotherhood has adopted similar tactics to stifle dissent.
Syrian Crisis Brings a Blessing for Kurds
The smuggler wants 200 dollars but Jewan negotiates him down to 100. That’s still a lot for this 26-year-old Syrian Kurd, but he can hardly wait to cross the border to Syria from Iraq. It’s been three years since he last saw his family.
Washington’s War Drums Drown out Opportunities for Peace in Syria
As violence in Syria spikes after a short lull, the prospect of international military intervention appears to be growing by the day. Earlier this week, almost exactly one year after President Barack Obama first called on Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad to step down, Obama warned of "enormous consequences if we start seeing movement on the chemical weapons front or the use of chemical weapons".
Palestinians Live on the Edge in New Libya
Just before the overthrow of the Gaddafi regime one year ago, Huda and her Palestinian family were forcefully evicted from their Tripoli home.Northern Iraq Instead of Syria: Turkish Army’s New Target?
With attacks by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) multiplying and spreading to a larger number of Turkish provinces, Ankara is under increasing pressure by nationalistic parties to take tougher measures against Kurdish activism, including a full-blown land incursion by the Turkish armed forces into northern Iraq.
Palestinians Step Again Towards Nationhood
A year after their bid for statehood flopped in the United Nations’ Security Council, the Palestine Liberation Organisation is again planning to seek an upgrade in UN status. On Sep. 27, the PLO will approach the UN General Assembly in hopes of becoming a non-member observer state. If their bid is successful, the Palestinians will be eligible to join various UN agencies and will also be able to bring allegations of Israeli war crimes to the International Criminal Court.
U.S. Breaks Silence on Bahrain Crackdown
The U.S. State Department released a statement Friday urging the Bahraini government to reconsider a ruling that sentenced the director of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, Nabeel Rajab, to a three-year jail term for organising opposition rallies.U.N. to Close Syria Observer Mission
The United Nations has ordered the end of its observer mission in Syria, and said that it would withdraw its staff within the next few days.Rebels Claim Responsibility for Syria Blast
The main Syrian rebel group has claimed responsibilty for a series of explosions in central Damascus near the hotel used by the U.N. observer mission in Syria.
Civil Society Squeezed on All Sides
A year and a half after the international wake-up call of the Arab Spring uprisings, the room for civil society organisations is being increasingly constricted across the globe, experts in Washington warned on Tuesday.
Gaddafi Loyalists Up In Arms
The security situation in Libya remains tense as violence by way of car bombings, political assassinations of high-ranking government and military officials, attacks on foreign diplomatic staff and NGOs, and young men sorting out minor disputes with AK-47s continues unabated.OP-ED: What to Make of the Latest Iranian-Turkish Row
Turkish-Iranian relations have been rocky since the deepening of the Syrian imbroglio, but the latest row suggests a new low.« Previous Page — Next Page »
The Arab Spring has changed the Arab seasons that have followed; it had to. The struggle continues in Syria; in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and in countries that did not change that dramatically, such as Bahrain and Yemen, the political world, and the tone of society itself has changed. IPS has not left these countries with the headlines that accompanied cataclysmic changes. We continue to track changes closely, always keeping in our sights first the rights of peoples, and then reporting changes from fresh, newsy and human perspective.
Middle East & North Africa
