Matar won a Pulitzer Prize for his memoir, “The Return,” mourning his homeland and his father. In his new novel, he turns to the untranslatability of exile — and friendship.
The trip by President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, his first to China since 2004, may bolster Beijing’s efforts to expand its influence in the Middle East.
In a kingdom that crushed an Arab Spring uprising more than a decade ago, prisoners are now on hunger strike to demand better conditions, fueling protests in support of their cause.
A satirical Arabic website, much like The Onion, poked fun at a royal wedding in Jordan in June. Not long after, it was blocked. “We’re totally backsliding,” said one cartoonist in the kingdom.