At its base, it's a glorified debating forum; that's how political analyst Shadi Hamid describes the Arab League. The organization has been dubbed a toothless tiger, dominating headlines and gathering leaders for explosively charged summits, and (...)
SANAA: A Yemeni filmmaker is facing a smear campaign from conservative and religious groups in his home country after publishing an article in a local magazine promoting gay rights.
The Paris-based author, Hamid Aqabi, wrote that homosexuality (...)
CAIRO: Shia clerics are warning that comments made by the new Grand Sheikh of the renowned Sunni Al-Azhar institute in Egypt risk fuelling the divide between the two sects of Islam.
Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb reportedly said he was against "any (...)
CAIRO: Egypt's State Security Prosecution has uncovered what it claims to be a special women's unit within the banned Muslim Brotherhood movement.
The prosecution says this group is led by the Brotherhood's deputy chairman Mahmoud Ezzat, who was (...)
CAIRO: Egyptians are protesting against an alleged plan to install surveillance cameras in thousands of mosques throughout the country.
Egypt's Ministry of Islamic Endowments denied the existence of such a plan on Monday, but the reports have (...)
Conservative figures in Egypt are furious over an Egyptian moviemaker's plan to produce a drama series about a woman with several husbands.
Filmmaker Mustafa Mahram told Al-Arabiya that there was no reason he should not go ahead with the series, (...)
CAIRO/TELAVIV: Every year, hundreds of camels cross the border from Egypt into Israel. Some wander into Israel unwittingly, in search of greener pastures to graze, while others are deliberately sent from Egypt to smuggle in drugs or other illicit (...)
CAIRO: A senior Saudi cleric is set to deliver a Ramadan sermon from within a popular virtual world platform as part of the Saudi religious authorities' efforts to reach wider audiences through unconventional media platforms.
Sheikh Ahmad (...)
CAIRO: Omar Suleiman, the director of Egypt's general intelligence service and a possible successor to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, has been named the most powerful intelligence chief in the Middle East by Foreign Policy Magazine. It is widely (...)
CAIRO: Egypt sent a delegation to Iraq this week to check the diplomatic compounds and examine the technical, managerial and security aspects of reopening an embassy in Baghdad.
Cairo closed down its embassy in 2005 after its ambassador to (...)
CAIRO: Egyptian security forces recently arrested more than 100 people throughout the country who are suspected of plotting terror attacks.
Security forces are referring around 110 suspects to the supreme state security prosecution, security (...)
The global industry of halal, or foods that are permitted for consumption by Muslims, has a turnover of hundreds of billions of dollars every year, and is constantly growing.
But the swell in demand for halal has given rise to fraud, especially (...)
CAIRO: Two Egyptian converts to Christianity engaged in a legal battle against the Egyptian authorities have gone missing, sparking fears for their lives.
Mohamed Hegazi and his pregnant wife Zeinab have both been missing since Monday, and they (...)
On an average-size map of the world, there is no space to mark the locations of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
On one map, the former is outlined by a barely visible light blue line; Gaza is hidden behind the 'm' in the word Jerusalem. And (...)