Sunnis and Shias in Bahrain remain as far apart as ever
THE DEATH in 2020 of Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, the world’s longest-serving prime minister, prompted mourning in Bahrain, but also a ripple of excitement. His nephew, Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, was slated to take his place. Prince Salman, who is first in line to the throne, was seen as a potential bridge between the kingdom’s…
Middle Eastern legal dramas play out in far-off courts
IT WAS JUSTICE on a microscopic scale. On January 13th Anwar Raslan, a former Syrian intelligence officer, was sentenced to life in prison for crimes against humanity. The verdict followed more than 100 court sessions at which witnesses told of beatings, electrocutions and rapes in Branch 251, the prison Mr Raslan ran for two years.…