Common Ground News Service

Corruption ‘On the Increase’ Across Arab World

NADA AKL, CGNEWS: Corruption is so deeply ingrained in societies across the Arab world that promoting transparency seems an almost hopeless task

 Crossroads Arabia

2012: The Year of the Inane Political Fatwa

2012: The Year of the Inane Political Fatwa

CROSSROADS ARABIA: They came thick and fast throughout the last year. Many of them, though, just serve to devalue the meaning of a religious edict

 mai abdul rahman

‘This Hateful Movie Is Not Worth A Drop of Blood’

‘This Hateful Movie Is Not Worth A Drop of Blood’

And so the violence associated with a vile, hate filled movie escalates. Why can we not fight hate with wisdom and rationality?

MAI ABDUL RAHMAN: And so the violence associated with a vile, hate filled movie escalates. Why can we not fight hate with wisdom and rationality?

 The View From Fez

Mali Islamist Threat That Could Engulf Morocco

Mali Islamist Threat That Could Engulf Morocco

THE VIEW FROM FEZ: While international attention is focused on Syria events in the Maghreb are threatening to spin out of control

 Tabsir

Catastrophe: The Untold Story of The Sahel

Catastrophe: The Untold Story of The Sahel

DANIEL M. VARISCO: It’s a crisis that seems to have evaded the world’s attention but the human disaster that Sahel is facing is vast

 The Moor Next Door

Obama’s Speech: The Key Points Made

Obama’s Speech: The Key Points Made

THE MOOR NEXT DOOR: There was little new in Obama’s ‘Arab Spring’ speech. Nervous light criticism of Bahrain, no reference to Gulf allies and a minor poke of Israel.

 Alexander McNabb

Torches: Understanding Mohammed Bouazizi

Torches: Understanding Mohammed Bouazizi

ALEXANDER MCNABB: I find it hard to even think about what would drive a man to contemplate the act – the acrid stink of petrol, vapour shimmering, a scratch and whiff of phosphorous.

 The Moor Next Door

Bouazizi’s Self-Immolation Spreads to Mauritania

Bouazizi’s Self-Immolation Spreads to Mauritania

TMND: Thus far, four Algerians and an Egyptian and a Mauritanian each have lit them selves on fire in protests meant to recall Bouazizi…