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An opinion poll highlighted by the Qifa Nabki blog shows strong popular support in Lebanon for abolishing confessionalism. Fifty-eight per cent are in favour, plus a further 10% who favour abolition but think the time is not right. Only 22% oppose abolition.
Interestingly (but not… Read more
It happens all the time and no one seems to care. Yet another foreign domestic worker has plunged to her death from a building, this time in Saudi Arabia.
Arab News says the unnamed 25-year-old Indonesian woman fell from a two-storey building "while trying to run away from her… Read more
It's intriguing that the first public figure Mohamed ElBaradei met after returning to Egypt was Amr Moussa, secretary-general of the Arab League, who has also been mooted as a possible candidate in next year's presidential election.
What did they talk about? Well, neither man is saying very… Read more
“I do not think we have a real civil society independent from the state ... If you are not somehow connected to the regime, they will not establish you.” These are the words of Abdullah al-Faqih, Professor of Political Science at Sana’a University, quoted in yesterday's Financial Times.… Read more
Discussion of censorship mostly focuses on the spoken or written word, while censorship of art and music tends to be sidelined. In the field of music, probably the most controversial genre – and the one most censored worldwide – is heavy metal.
Heavy metal has some enthusiastic followers in… Read more
The collapse of a minaret which killed at least 41 worshippers during Friday prayers in Morocco is raising similar questions to thetragic floods that hit Jeddah in Saudi Arabia last November: were the deaths preventable and, if so, who failed to prevent them?
The Moroccan interior… Read more
For the first time, Saudi Arabia is planning to let female lawyers argue certain types of cases in court. Justice minister Mohammed al-Issa said yesterday that a draft law to this effect will be issued shortly as part of King Abdullah’s “plan to develop the justice system”.
At present,… Read more
Despite warnings that they were breaking the law, hundreds of Egyptians – perhaps more than 1,000 – turned up yesterday to greet Mohamed ElBaradei on his arrival at Cairo airport. Reports from al-Masry al-Youm and DPA describe the scenes, while the Egyptian Chronicles blog… Read more
Following its review of human rights in Egypt on Wednesday, the UN Human Rights Council will be issuing recommendations this afternoon.
By an ironic coincidence, this comes as Mohamed ElBaradei, former head of the IAEA, winner of the Nobel peace prize and – of more immediate… Read more
As the US prepares to send an ambassador to Syria for the first time in five years, elements on the American right are fighting a limp rearguard action against engagement with the Damascus regime.
Syria expert Joshua Landis discusses this on his blog and argues that sanctions have failed… 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
