Why won't Saudi Arabia travel to Palestine for a soccer match?
Last April the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur witnessed the Asian draw for the regional groups’ stage of the 2018 World Cup. As soon as the first group was drawn out, the Palestinian representatives knew that times ahead were going to be tough — and not only on field. Knowing who was selected to Group A was enough for them to work it out. Asian Group A included the following teams: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Timor Leste (East Timor), Malaysia and Asia’s rising star: Palestine.
The Palestinians, who last year achieved the huge milestone of qualifying for Asia Cup for the first time in their history, knew that the preliminary stages for the 2018 World Cup contains some huge hurdles. These hurdles would be there long before coach Abdel Nasser Barakat starts wracking his brain as to the opening line up of his team. The first thing the Palestinians need to ensure is that their games actually occur.
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Pop-literary comics gain popularity among Egypt's youth
“The name Garage was born out of the project being an underground, independent production, like we are starting from the bottom, then going up and out to the world,” Haitham Raafat told Ahram Online.
The magazine launched late August at Townhouse Gallery in downtown Cairo. There are now several major pop-literary comics in Cairo alone, including Toktok, Garage, and Shakmagia.
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Abduction is big business: Shiite militias suspected of kidnapping Kurds for cash
Arkan Suleiman, 32, was just doing his job, driving his delivery truck between Iraqi Kurdistan in Iraq's north and Najaf, in the south, when he was kidnapped. He had been travelling in a convoy of several trucks but lost track of his fellow drivers when, on Sept. 4, he was forced to stop at a checkpoint in the Muqdadiya area of the Diyala province.
“Five armed men wearing military uniforms, driving a Ford car, had set up a checkpoint on the road in Muqdadiya,” Suleiman told NIQASH. “They stopped the truck and they kidnapped me. The armed men were carrying the flags that usually belong to the Shiite Muslim volunteer militias. They took me from the road to an orchard and then they put me in a civilian car and drove me to a family house.”
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