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14th July 2010
Following last month's police raid on a "safe house" in Karbala used used as a refuge for gay, lesbian and transgender Iraqis, there's news of another raid – this time at a male beauty parlour in Baghdad. Interior Ministry forces took away the manager and four workers.
The London-based Iraqi LGBT… Read more
14th July 2010
More opposition in Egypt to the proposed new personal status lawfor non-Muslims – this time from the country's small Baha'i community.
Raouf Hendi, the community's spokesman, described the draft law as "racist and discriminatory", saying it will promote sectarianism.Bikya Masr reports:
Hendi said… Read more
14th July 2010
The National newspaper has a report on the struggles of independent film-makers in Saudi Arabia – a land without cinemas:
Outdoor shoots are huge hassles with actors of both genders. Invariably, the religious police arrive and shut down filming, sometimes arresting everyone, despite a five-year-old… Read more
13th July 2010
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has protested at the suspension of of the Sudanese daily newspaper, al-Intibaha. Last week the paper received a phone call from the Security and National Intelligence Service saying it had been suspended indefinitely and its latest edition would be… Read more
13th July 2010
The ceasefire agreement that halted the all-out conflict between the Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels last February seems to be gradually breaking down. A headline in the Yemen Observer predicts that a seventh round in the war is "imminent".
The paper quotes Houthi sources as saying that an… Read more
11th July 2010
Five Yemeni oil workers were kidnapped in the sparsely-populated northern province of al-Jawf late on Thursday, and the interior ministry is blaming the Houthi rebels.
"The Houthis captured five staff from an oil company in Marib along with their car when they were inspecting fuel stations in the… Read more
11th July 2010
A 28-year-old woman was stabbed to death in a suburb of Amman yesterday – the eighth reported "honour" killing in Jordan so far this year.
She is said to have been stabbed 16 times and her four brothers are being questioned by police, according to the Jordan Times.
The paper quotes a source as… Read more
10th July 2010
Egypt ranks 19th in the world for violation of shipping regulations, according to a report by the International Maritime Organisationcited by Bikya Masr website.
The website quotes Adel Shaaban, Director of the French Classification Authority in Alexandria, as saying that Egypt’s presence on the… Read more
9th July 2010
Once corruption becomes institutionalised, it is very difficult to eradicate. Morocco, ranked 89th worldwide in last year'sCorruption Perceptions Index, is a typical example and a new report from the kingdom's Central Authority for the Prevention of Corruption (ICPC) examines the nature of the… Read more
9th July 2010
It's back to Square One in Egypt on the question of divorced Christians re-marrying. In May, the Supreme Administrative Courtordered Pope Shenouda III to allow two Coptic Christians, in two separate cases, to remarry after divorce.
The Coptic church appealed, and now the Supreme Constitutional… Read more
ARAB ART ONLINE: Susan Hefuna: Al Sabr Gamil (Patience is Beautiful) 2007. Ink stained on wood 140 x 170 cm. More information | Click to enlarge
