Ian Black
Guest Author
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/ 17 May 2008

US pledge to Saudis fails to win oil concession

The United States agreed on Friday to help Saudi Arabia protect its oil industry from terrorist attack, while offering to back conservative Arab countries resisting Iranian influence spreading across the Middle East — but King Abdullah was not persuaded to boost Saudi oil production to ease the effect of the -a-barrel price on the US.

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/ 17 May 2008

Kuwait’s shifting sands

Over lavish buffets in giant, air-conditioned tents whose generators battle with the searing summer heat, Kuwaitis have been arguing over an election that is being watched for signs that one of the freest countries in the Arab world is disillusioned with its political system.

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/ 9 May 2008

Somali refugees tell of horror of war

Soldiers, insurgents and bandits are routinely attacking Somalian civilians, murdering, raping and robbing villagers, and destroying entire districts, Amnesty International said this week. Gang rape and throat cutting — referred to locally as ”killing like goats” — is prevalent.

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/ 23 April 2008

Bread brawls

It is an overcast morning in the Bulaq neighbourhood of Cairo, three hours after the muezzin’s call to prayers. The streets are choked with honking cars, while goats — and a few ragged-looking people — pick at piles of stinking rubbish overflowing from metal wheelie bins.