Summary: while the Yemen truce has largely held and there is hope it will be renewed, the war in Ukraine has exacerbated food insecurity with prices soaring for wheat and other commodities even as ordinary Yemenis, hit hard by rampant inflation, are already lacking the money to buy food.
Summary: a sister battles for her brother’s freedom and that of thousands of other prisoners of conscience held in Saudi Arabia’s prison system.
Yemen expert and author Helen Lackner joins Arab Digest editor William Law to discuss a ceasefire that is largely holding as all sides begin to acknowledge that a protracted stalemate, rather than leading to further fighting, could prove the path to dialogue, negotiations and an end to a more than seven year war that has brought untold suffering to the people of Yemen.
Summary: as the war in Ukraine enters an ever more dangerous phase, MENA states continue to take a fence-sitting posture that keeps their options open and avoids annoying Putin.
Summary: as President Biden seeks to turn Putin into a global pariah, he has let slip another target, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is increasingly gaining international approval and acceptance despite his ruthless suppression of Saudis at home and attacks on critics abroad.
Summary: as the Egyptian president drives the country ever deeper into a massive debt swamp, he is capitalising on Saudi and Emirati fears of another revolution the keep the Gulf money flowing in.
Summary: a truce is announced and a president resigns so does this mean that the war in Yemen, after seven brutal years of fighting, may finally be drawing to a close?
Summary: the UAE is brusque with Washington, strategic with Moscow and keenly reinforcing relations with China and the wider East as America’s erstwhile ally seeks to play the advantage while the war in Ukraine rages.
Summary: MbS is searching for a face-saving exit from the Yemen quagmire but the Houthis are determined to make him pay the full price for the war.
Summary: before the Russians invaded Ukraine, food insecurity was already an issue for many MENA countries but as of 24 February a bad situation got a whole lot worse.
