Brian Whitaker, Medium

Brian Whitaker

Medium

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Past articles by Brian:

British defender of Assad regime backs Russian referendums in Ukraine

A British woman who became a prominent defender of Syria’s Assad regime resurfaced this week as an “international observer” for Russia’s sham referendums in Ukraine. Vanessa Beeley — described by… → Read More

Revealed: EU and Soros funded reports by ‘Iran state-affiliated media’

A British academic whose Twitter account is tagged as “Iran state-affiliated media” was the main author of a report on Islamophobia published this week with funding from the EU’s Rights, Equality and… → Read More

Muslim who converted to Christianity faces execution for apostasy in Libya

A man has been sentenced to death in Libya after converting from Islam to Christianity, according to local news reports. → Read More

Lights, camera, police action. The hazards of filming in Egypt

The Egyptian authorities have got themselves in a tangle over photography. They want the country to be seen as an attractive tourist destination and if photographers would just focus on nice things… → Read More

Saudi court orders retrial after multiple acquittals in Mecca crane disaster case

Thirteen people charged in connection with the world’s worst crane disaster have gone on trial in Saudi Arabia for a third time, after previously being acquitted twice. The latest retrial in the… → Read More

Documents show Margaret Thatcher advocated using chemical weapons against Iraq

Following Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990, British prime minister Margaret Thatcher advocated using banned chemical weapons against Iraqi forces, declassified documents show. Despite the… → Read More

Yemen’s Hadi steps down after 10 years as ‘temporary’ president

After months of apparent deadlock, the last few days have brought tentative signs of a shift in Yemen’s seven-year conflict. → Read More

Man arrested in France on suspicion of sending chemical weapons supplies to Syria

A man suspected of supplying equipment to the Syrian army — including components that could be used in the manufacture of chemical weapons — has been arrested in the south of France after arriving… → Read More

How a book about propaganda succumbed to a pro-Assad propagandist

The Research Handbook on Political Propaganda is a new book described by its publishers as “a crucial resource for both scholars and students”. Optimistically priced at £195 ($258), it has 29… → Read More

Mystery of Abu Dhabi’s ‘magnetic’ Covid detectors

On Sunday the Gulf emirate of Abu Dhabi began using a new Covid-19 “scanning” system to check people arriving by road from neighbouring Dubai. The system is a local invention and if it lives up to… → Read More

The British MP who became Saudi Arabia’s most devoted supporter

Daniel Kawczynski is the member of parliament for Shrewsbury in England, though he is jokingly known as the member for Riyadh. “I feel passionately about Saudi Arabia,” he told the House of Commons… → Read More

Yemeni journalist accused of spreading atheism is jailed for 15 years in Saudi Arabia

A Yemeni journalist has become the latest victim of Saudi Arabia’s laws against religious disbelief. → Read More

Qatar diverts gas tankers to Britain after appeal for help from PM Johnson

Four ships carrying liquefied natural gas from Qatar have been diverted to supply Britain following a request for help from prime minister Boris Johnson, the Financial Times reported on Friday. One… → Read More

Climate change: Saudi Arabia and OPEC resisting action on fossil fuels

Leaked documents show that Saudi Arabia and the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have been lobbying to water down a crucial scientific report on climate change. News of the… → Read More

Battles loom at OPCW over use of chemical weapons by Russia and Syria

The OPCW, the international body that monitors compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention, is facing an unprecedented situation where Russia and Syria — two of its member states, far from… → Read More

Alleged Israeli strike on Syria chemical weapons site hampers OPCW investigations

Syria’s claim that crucial evidence relating to chemical weapons was destroyed by Israeli airstrikes has been greeted with widespread scepticism: it sounds too convenient to be true. In a diplomatic… → Read More

Syria tells OPCW the Douma cylinders have been destroyed

Two gas cylinders that formed crucial evidence in the OPCW’s investigations of an alleged chlorine attack have been destroyed in Syria, the head of the chemical weapons watchdog reported on Friday… → Read More

Prizes galore: Assad supporters win awards for ‘integrity’ — with help from a piano tuner

The Serena Shim Award for Uncompromised Integrity in Journalism is named in memory of a Lebanese-American journalist who died in a car crash while working for Iran’s Press TV in 2014. The purpose of… → Read More

Chemical attacks in Syria: new group joins campaign to discredit OPCW

A newly-formed group has joined the campaign to discredit investigations of chemical weapons in Syria and has recruited a former high-ranking UN official to its cause. “Berlin Group 21”, whose… → Read More

Yemen: a war with no military solution

The Yemeni city of Marib lies 120 km to the east of the capital, Sana’a, with mountainous territory in between. It was from Marib, in the early stages of the six-year war, that pro-government forces… → Read More