Habib Siddiqui

  President Vladimir Putin’s decision to attack Ukraine has split the Orthodox Church. Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, a leading authority of the Eastern Orthodox Church, quickly condemned the “ unprovoked invasion of Ukraine .” By contrast, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, has supported the war, which he claimed in a sermon was a struggle to defend “ human civilization” against the “sin” of “gay-pride parades .” As a scholar who has spent  several decades studying religion in Russia , I’m following the debates within the Orthodox Church very closely. To better understand the current conflict, it is helpful to know more about the structure and history of Orthodox Christianity. What is the Orthodox Church? Orthodoxy is the smallest of the three major branches of Christianity, which also includes Catholicism and Protestantism. There are about  1.34 billion  Catholics, about  600 million Protestants  and approximately  300 million  Orthodox Chr

  Russia launched its massive invasion of Ukraine on February 24 flagrantly violating the most fundamental norm of international law—the prohibition of recourse to international force except in exercising the right of self-defense against a prior armed attack. Yes, there were a series of irresponsible provocations by NATO that aroused understandable security concerns in Moscow, including the relentless expansion of the Cold War NATO alliance after the Cold War was over, the threat from the Soviet Union had disappeared, and promises were made by Western leaders of no further NATO expansion. Such geopolitical behavior amounted to imprudent statecraft by the West, especially given the Russian anxiety about being surrounded by hostile forces. Such eminent figures as George Kennan, Jack Matlock (respected former U.S. ambassador to Russia), and Henry Kissinger issued warnings to this effect, but they went unheeded in Washington. The Ukraine War is best interpreted as a two-level war. In the

  It has now been over a month since Vladimir Putin ordered Russian military forces to invade Ukraine. In this short amount of time, a tidal wave of sentimental gush has emerged from Western countries that has glossed over even the most modest criticism of the Ukrainian government while vilifying Putin and his country to an extent that is increasingly trespassing into the realm of the absurd. This narrative, disseminated by Washington, its allies, and its minions in the corporate-owned media, has been so predictable as to be bordering on self-parody, with some going so far as to draw parallels between Putin and Adolf Hitler. In the wake of this flagrantly one-sided presentation of the conflict, Russia has been subjected to sanctions from the US and its allies, the withdrawal of multiple major corporations from Russian soil, and a series of boycotts by a cornucopia of universities, NGOS and social media companies. It has been left to independent media, therefore, to provide some modicum

Kais Saied says the move, eight months after suspending parliament, aims to ‘preserve the state and its institutions’. President Kais Saied in July last year, sacked the government, froze the assembly and seized wide-ranging powers [File: Muhammad Hamed/Reuters] Published On 30 Mar 2022 30 Mar 2022 Tunisia’s President Kais Saied has announced on state TV that he is dissolving the country’s parliament, eight months after suspending it in a  July power grab . “Today, at this historic moment, I announce the dissolution of the Assembly of Representatives of the people, to preserve the state and its institutions,” he said on Wednesday. KEEP READING list of 4 items list 1 of 4 Tunisia’s president dissolves top judicial watchdog list 2 of 4 Tunisian judges on strike as fears grow over authoritarian rule list 3 of 4 ‘Union will not remain silent’: Tunisia’s UGTT demands dialogue list 4 of 4 Tunisians snub poll on reforms as economic crisis deepens end of list He made the announcement at a meet

  More than 200  Israeli   settlers stormed the courtyard of the holy   Al-Aqsa Mosque   in occupied East Jerusalem on Tuesday, according to local Palestinian media, days before the start of Ramadan. The far-right activists  chanted racist slogans at the site, considered to be the third holiest in Islam, amid a heavy Israeli security presence. The attacks come as Israeli forces prevented Directorate of the Reconstruction of the Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque employees from hanging signs around the mosque to mark the holy month of  Ramadan , which is due to start on Sunday. Palestinians  typically gather in their hundreds to perform prayers at Al-Aqsa during Ramadan, as well as break their fast and spend time around the neighbouring  Damascus Gate  during the evenings. RELATED Thousands of Palestinians prepare Al-Aqsa mosque for Ramadan MENA The New Arab Staff Israeli forces have set checkpoints at the Wadi Al-Rababa junction in the town of Silwan, which is located south of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and