Rubygate: Is Berlusconi’s Moroccan lover a Muslim?

13 February 2011

Buon giorno dear readers, another politician’s been in involved in a sex scandal with a beautiful young woman, and che sorpresa, it’s an Italian politician.
Sandwiched between more sinister and significant news on Egypt and Tunisia, you’ve surely seen snippets and tid-bits of tattle about Ruby Rubacuori, (real name Karima el Mahrou). Moroccan-born Ruby allegedly had [...]

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My Blue Valentine: Iran Bans Hearts and Flowers on the Day of Love

7 February 2011

Hello lovely lovers – guess what Cupid’s got marked in the calendar next month? Around this time last year, I blogged about Saudi Arabia’s stance on Valentine’s Day today.

Perusing the news online today, I discovered via Time Magazine, that Iran also put the kybosh on the day of hearts, flowers and alter-day symbols of affection [...]

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Ashura: One Important Muslim Day, Two Different Meanings

1 February 2011

I don’t know as much about Shi’a Islam as I should, but I love to read and talk to my Shi’a friends about the things that I as a Sunni have in common with them and areas of divergence. Living in a non-majority Muslim country, I’m really glad of the opportunity to meet other [...]

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Off the Wall: Who is Princess Hijab?

26 January 2011

Princess Hijab is Paris’s most notorious street artist of le moment, but nobody knows who she really is.  There’s no mistaking her art – black marker pen veils daubed onto the glitzy, scantily-clad models, lining the subway walls in the French capital.
The Princesses guerilla niqab art, dubbed hijabisation has caught the eye of the mainstream [...]

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Bowled Over: Afghanistan’s First Women’s Cricket Team

17 January 2011

Afghanistan is set to give young women cricketers and their families a boost by creating a national team to compete at international level.
Sporting women have come on leaps and bounds in Afghanistan, since the 2001 fall of the Taliban. 2011 will see the creation and training of the team with a view to participation in [...]

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Running to Stand Still: Saudi Muslim Women in Asir are Banned from Jogging!

10 January 2011

Keeping fit is something many of us ladies aspire to, and as spring springs in the Northern Hemisphere what could be better than a jog to jostle off those extra winter pounds?
If you’re a Muslim woman living in Asir, Saudi Arabia, as of this May, frankly you can forget it.
A Question of Safety You Can’t [...]

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You’ll Never Walk Alone… Technology to Protect Egyptian Women

2 January 2011

Technology is a marvellous thing, isn’t it? I mean without it you and I wouldn’t be having this conversation…
It’s must be said, that while CCTV might seem invasive to some, technology protects as well as informing and entertaining us. Egypt is taking this a step further by launching  Harrassmap, a website with a mission to  [...]

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Wall, Window and Curtain: Poliglot Theater’s Neither Heaven Nor Earth

21 December 2010

Multimedia, Multidimensional Theatre with a Message
They say there is nothing more fulfilling than doing what everyone tells you cannot be done.
Poliglot Theater, it seems, was built on this raison d’etre. Its first production, Neither Heaven Nor Earth, is a brilliant, moving piece of multimedia documentary theatre that breaks down walls, prejudice and the notion [...]

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Fashion for the Faithful in Istanbul

12 December 2010

I’ve just landed on Spanish soil following a wonderful week in Istanbul. Now a certified apple tea, baklava and shisha addict, I’m sad to say my attempts to replicate the experience in my living room have failed miserably.
See, you can’t recreate Istanbul, yet if you visit this incredibly vibrant, multicultural and bustling city that bridges [...]

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I Want to get Married – The Egyptian TV Show that Reveals All

29 November 2010

I Want to get Married. The title of this Middle-Eastern TV comedy show leaves little to the imagination… Still, when we’re talking about today’s Egyptians ruminating on what they’re looking for in a marriage partner – and season the revelations and responses with humour – intrigue enters the equation.
The show has [...]

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