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Sunday, May 24, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Arabs Rise for Rights
Verdict Revives Egyptian Anger
If the life sentences for former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and one of his key allies were meant to placate Egyptians, they have had the opposite effect.Women Look for a Place in New Egypt
"It was so frustrating but so exciting at the same time," recalls 15-year-old Mariam Assam, a year-10 student in Cairo. Assam was recalling the days she tried to join protestors during the Egyptian revolution in January 2011 but was intially prevented by her parents who said street protests were no place for a girl to be.Women Look for a Place in New Egypt
"It was so frustrating but so exciting at the same time," recalls 15-year-old Mariam Assam, a year-10 student in Cairo. Assam was recalling the days she tried to join protestors during the Egyptian revolution in January 2011 but was intially prevented by her parents who said street protests were no place for a girl to be.
Syria Simmers Amid U.N. Security Council Deadlock
The United States and its Western allies appear increasingly inclined to push for regime change in Syria, although the latest round of diplomatic talks at the U.N. Security Council Wednesday suggest that it remains a distant possibility.Egyptians Protest Choice Between Right and Right
Like the delayed after-effects of an earthquake below the ocean before the subsequent tsunami hits adjacent coastlines, Egyptian anger finally exploded this week after several days of stunned silence following the controversial results of Egypt’s first-round of presidential elections.Egyptians Protest Choice Between Right and Right
Like the delayed after-effects of an earthquake below the ocean before the subsequent tsunami hits adjacent coastlines, Egyptian anger finally exploded this week after several days of stunned silence following the controversial results of Egypt’s first-round of presidential elections.Annan: ‘Bold Steps’ Needed for Syria Peace
Kofi Annan, the U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria, has called on the country's government to take bold steps to prove its commitment to restoring peace during a visit to Damascus.
EGYPT: And Finally, To Vote
As Egyptians head to the polls Wednesday and Thursday to elect the country's first post-Mubarak president, local analysts say that voting results - even on the very eve of the balloting - remain impossible to predict.
Poverty Fuels Clashes in Lebanon
Age-old battlegrounds in Lebanon’s northern city of Tripoli have descended into violence once again. While the events are highly disturbing they are not necessarily surprising for Lebanon’s residents, who have grown accustomed to violent clashes along the impoverished sectarian divides in the city.
From Mubarak To Worse
More than 15 months after Egypt's Tahrir Square uprising and four months after free parliamentary polls, many Egyptians say that daily living conditions are worse now than they were in the Mubarak era.OP-ED: Arab Autocrats Aiding Resurgence of Terrorism
The rising spectre of terrorism in Syria shows that by clinging to power and refusing to implement meaningful reforms, Arab autocrats in Syria, Bahrain, and elsewhere are indirectly contributing to the resurgence of terrorism in their societies.
Presidential Hopefuls Haunted by their Past
One is a conservative Islamist attempting to reinvent himself as a pragmatic liberal, the other is a secular statesman trying to distance himself from the authoritarian regime he once served. Both aspire to be Egypt’s first civilian president.Building Libya’s New Media “From a Void”
Going from being a country with a highly controlled press to one that has free, independent and functioning media in roughly a year is a tall order.
Deserting Refugees in the Sahara
As dusk settles over the isolated Saharan town Kufra, young guards order a few hundred migrants lined up at a detention centre to chant "Libya free, Chadians out", before they kneel down for evening prayers.
Recovering From the Spring, at a Price
The Arab Spring sent scores of sick and injured Libyans, fleeing their war- torn country, straight to Jordan, where the influx of patients is putting a lot of pressure on Jordanian hospitals and disrupting the lives of Libyan and Jordanian patients alike.Washington Struggles to Find a Path Forward on Syria
As the Syrian army has stepped up its attacks against opposition strongholds in Homs and elsewhere, the U.S. and its allies have achieved little consensus in choosing a course of action to oust President Bashar al-Assad.Hard to Stay in Libya, Difficult to Return
At the battered terminal of Tripoli’s tiny Mitiga airport, over 150 young men and women jostle to be repatriated home to Nigeria on Libya’s Buraq airlines. This journey to Lagos is one of hundreds the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has facilitated since the start of the uprising against Gaddafi’s regime over a year ago.U.S. Wins Release of NGO Workers, Aid to Egypt Still Vulnerable
After weeks of political pressure from the U.S., Egyptian officials announced Wednesday that the remaining employees of two U.S. government-supported organisations facing a criminal investigation would be permitted to leave the country.CULTURE-ARAB SPRING: A Revolution Through the Lens
The Arab world is talking about a revolution; not just out on the streets but in films, in newspapers, in songs – using any means necessary to document events, expose the horrors of war and explore the struggles and possibilities that lie ahead as the Arab Spring feels the wintry chill of post-revolutionary democratic challenges.Syria Stalls Senior U.N. Official’s Visit to War Zone
The United Nations, which remains politically deadlocked over the drawn-out crisis in Syria, has hit another roadblock, this time over humanitarian assistance to the thousands of men, women and children caught up in the 11-month-old conflict.Tunisia Summit Highlights Glaring Absence of Unity on the ‘Syria Question’
In the Friends of Syria meeting held in Tunis last week, Gulf Arab monarchies offered nearly unqualified support for the Syrian opposition, while the democratic states were more cautious.« 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
