DEFENDING champions Saudi Arabia edged past Kuwait 3-2 last night to advance to the final of the fifth Huawei GCC National Teams Under-23 Championship. The Saudis went ahead by three goals in the contest, but the Kuwaitis refused to go out without a fight and came to within one strike from leveling the scores. Saleh Jamaan scored a first-half brace for the victors while Abdulrahman Al Ghamdi contributed Saudi's third. Kuwait's goals were scored by Faraj Alzuaebi and Abdulrahman Alshammari, both Read more [...]

MANAMA (AP) - Thousands of people have taken to the streets in Bahrain to demonstrate against the government in a permitted protest in the Gulf kingdom.The demonstrators marched west of Bahrain s capital, Manama, on Friday to protest new strict laws designed to curb dissent.The Shiite opposition party Wefaq called for the protest and had prior approval from the government, meaning it wasn t broken up like others recently called by demonstrators in the Sunni-ruled kingdom.Security Read more [...]

As the United States reopens embassies all over the Middle East and Africa, 34 writers from 31 countries and territories—including Egypt, Yemen, Pakistan, Bahrain, and Iran—prepare to travel to Iowa City (the only UNESCO City of Literature in the United States) to prove that the arts—literature, in particular—know no borders. The writers, representing every continent except Antarctica, have all won coveted spots in the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program (IWP) annual Fall Read more [...]

The protest was held along the Budaiya highway, west of Manama, on Friday following a call by Bahrain's main opposition bloc, al-Wefaq.The demonstrators also called for the release of political prisoners. There were no immediate reports of clashes between protesters and regime forces."Our homeland cannot remain a hostage to a small group that controls power and wealth," al-Wefaq said in a statement on Thursday, adding, "It is the right of the Bahraini people, including all its groups, to have a peaceful Read more [...]