Farid Farid is a journalist and scholar based in Berlin. His work has appeared in Le Monde Diplomatique, Al Jazeera English, the Sydney Morning Herald and the New Statesman.
Analysis: The Jordanian vice-president of football's world governing body is riding a wave of support as international legal pressure mounts on Fifa's top leaders.
Blog: Online activities are being targeted by state security, while access to information is being restricted as governments across the Arab world crack down on activism.
Analysis: The deaths of up to 1,100 people in a week has pushed Mediterranean people-smuggling up the political agenda. But no one appears ready to act, says Farid Farid.
Feature: Tunisians ask how the state allowed the massacre at Bardo, while friends of one of the gunman question his switch from "wine and women" to murder.
The lady of the Arab screen represented the qualities of a bygone era of modernist elegance and Cairene cosmopolitanism. She was at once determined and steely while exuding a certain style.