Keywords: Saudi Arabia

  • RELIGION

    Islam in denial over burqas

    • Muhammad Izhar ul Haq
    • 07 June 2011
    16 Comments

    Everything Western nations do is analysed by the Muslim world in the light of 'conspiracy theories'. Fanatics present the French burqa ban as a reflection of anti Islamic sentiment. In fact millions of Muslim women in France and elsewhere do not cover their faces.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Quitting Afghanistan cold turkey

    • Shahram Akbarzadeh
    • 25 May 2011
    7 Comments

    President Obama appears to have given in to domestic pressure for prompt withdrawal from Afghanistan. But a complete withdrawal could have major ramifications for the region and ultimately for US interests.

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  • RELIGION

    In bed with Fred Nile

    • Irfan Yusuf
    • 27 February 2011
    26 Comments

    In the past, Christian Democratic Party leader Fred Nile saw conservative Muslims as allies. Now he, like the Australian Christian Lobby, prefers to play sectarian wedge politics. Most homophobic Muslims would rather stay silent on gay marriage than support sectarian bigots.

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  • RELIGION

    Christmas in Islam

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 20 December 2010
    13 Comments

    The Gospels describe Christmas as a time of great happiness that a saviour has been born. But they also intimate the murderous business through which salvation will come. This Christmas many Christians in Muslim nations will be shadowed by fear.

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  • ENVIRONMENT

    Reviving climate hope

    • Tony Kevin
    • 21 June 2010
    9 Comments

    The new Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Christiana Figueres is well qualified to help heal the wounds of Copenhagen. If the West can learn the lessons of those failed talks and move forward with modesty, flexibility and sensitivity, we may hope for progress.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Politicising women's bodies

    • Catherine Marshall
    • 06 May 2010
    36 Comments

    What's the difference between wanting a thin wife and wanting an invisible wife? Which is more democratic: the western tendency to idealise the porn-star aesthetic, or the old-fashioned imperative for modesty and virtue? When the chips are down, is raunch culture really more dignifying than discretion?

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  • MEDIA

    St Mary's a metaphor for blogger power

    • John Cokley
    • 22 May 2009
    6 Comments

    Bloggers are being hunted and jailed in countries such as Burma and Iran. In Western nations they are incurring the wrath of disgruntled mainstream journalists. The plight of St Mary's South Brisbane holds a useful metaphor for this crusade on free speech.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Indonesia veering towards extremism

    • Peter Kirkwood
    • 07 April 2009
    9 Comments

    This week's Indonesian presidential election ought to concern Australians more than it does. If Muslim radicals gain significant influence, we will have a huge hostile neighbour just to our north.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    The nun and the burqa

    • Bronwyn Lay
    • 02 December 2008
    20 Comments

    When Germaine Greer savaged Michelle Obama's dress, I sighed. The 'beauty' market is a challenge to feminism. In France, two extremes of fashion ideology — burqas and plastic-surgery 'mannequins' — line up to buy bread.

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  • ENVIRONMENT

    Miracle plant's monstrous potential

    • Harry Nicolaides
    • 14 July 2008
    10 Comments

    As Australia considers the Garnaut Report and the CSIRO predicts petrol could reach $8 a litre within a decade, the subject of biofuel has garnered increased interest. Jatropha, the so-called darling of second-generation biofuels, could cripple third world economies and ecosystems.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Arab disunity on road from Damascus

    • Shahram Akbarzadeh
    • 02 May 2008
    1 Comment

    Saudi Arabia and Egypt snubbed the Damascus Summit. They left it in no position to deal with either the political stalemate in Lebanon, or ongoing sectarian violence in Iraq. Aside from political demarcations, the Arab world is suffering from a growing rift between the ruling regimes and the people.

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  • MEDIA

    Al-Jazeera suffers both US and Arab hostility

    • Michael Mehr
    • 13 December 2007
    3 Comments

    At al-Jazeera's Doha newsroom, employees are reminded that the channel must show 'the opinion and the opposite opinion'. Arab governments are not amused, and many have closed its bases in their territories. Yet Foxtel and other major providers in Australia and the US still decline to carry al-Jazeera.

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