International Features

Muslim boys who insulted Christianity sentenced to memorise verses of Quran that honour Jesus

Unique sentencing from Christian judge in Lebanon, where insulting religion can be punishable by up to three years in prison, praised as message of coexistence Three Lebanese teenagers who were hauled before a court on charges of insulting Christianity have been handed the unusual sentence of studying the references to the Virgin Mary found in the Quran.  Christian judge Joceline Matta found …

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‘There’s a lot of repenting’: why Australian prisoners are converting to Islam

The image was designed to shock: dozens of Muslims prostrated towards Mecca behind the razor wire of Goulburn’s Supermax jail. “Jailhouse jihad,” the headline blared above a story warning that Australia’s prisons were becoming a hotbed of extremism. It’s a theme that appears sporadically in the national media. One that, intentionally or otherwise, conflates in the reader’s mind prison-based conversions to Islam and radicalisation. …

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Contract signed for work on world’s tallest skyscraper in Jeddah

DUBAI: Real estate developers seeking to build the world’s tallest skyscraper in Jeddah have signed a 620-million Saudi riyal contract for infrastructure work at the site, signaling the project will go ahead. The contract was awarded to local Al-Fouzan General Contracting Co. and the work is to be finished within 12 months, Jeddah Economic Co, the consortium behind the project, …

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‘Rags to riches’: Dubai-based British woman converts old sheets into new clothes for needy children

DUBAI: A Dubai-based British woman has found a passion in supplying clothes and other stitched items to thousands of destitute people worldwide. Under the banner “Rags to Riches,” Barbara Evans, 69, converts old sheets and pillow cases into new clothes for children, then donates them to the needy. “It started three years back, when I read a story about a …

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