Arab leaders stay away from Baghdad summit

Source: The Christian Science Monitor Author: Hamza Hendawi & Lara Jakes, Associated Press Fewer than half the leaders of the Arab world showed up at an Arab summit in Baghdad on Thursday, a snub to the Iraqi government, but the leaders agreed on an appeal to Syria’s regime to stop […]

The Afghan girls who live as boys

Source: BBC Author: Tahir Qadiry For economic and social reasons, many Afghan parents want to have a son. This preference has led to some of them practising the long-standing tradition of Bacha Posh – disguising girls as boys. When Azita Rafhat, a former member of the Afghan parliament, gets her […]

When Home Is No Refuge for Women

Source: The New York Times NEW DELHI — This month, two women’s stories, told courageously, helped to underline the reality of domestic violence in India. Nita Bhalla, a journalist, wrote for the BBC about being physically assaulted by her partner. Meena Kandasamy, a poet and writer on social issues, wrote […]

The Kerala king who embraced Islam

By ALI AKBAR ARABNEWS Published: Feb 9, 2012 For Arabs, Malabar was the most familiar place in the whole Indian subcontinent. The relationship between Arabs and Malabar has a history that dates back centuries. Arab merchants were trading spices such as ginger, pepper and cardamom as well as things like […]

Symmetry of slaughter

By GWYNNE DYER ARABNEWS After Mohamed Merah died in a hail of French police bullets last week, people who had known him talked about “a polite and courteous boy” who liked “cars, bikes, sports and girls.” His friends had trouble believing that he had murdered seven people, including three children, […]