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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.
The United Nations estimates that 5,000 honour killings occur annually. These killings are a rebellion against modernity, attempts to hold on to older traditional values, especially concerning social relations and sexuality.
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.
In July 2002, Australia voted against a proposal to strengthen the 1984 UN Convention against Torture. John Howard's friendship with George W. Bush has compromised and tainted our once reputable record on human rights advocacy.
So many of the goods you see in shop windows will soon be waste, mostly landfill. Cutting waste is the fastest way to reduce carbon emissions and cope with other crises of climate change.
Israel is yet to justify its deportation of 48 Sudanese asylum seekers in August. It appears this action could be part of a blanket closed door policy that precludes the proper assessment of asylum claims according to Israel's legal and ethical obligations.
The notion of preventing Islamic influence has strong echoes of the simple Cold War ‘domino theory’. This powerful metaphor and enemy image, popular in the 1950s and 1960s and used to justify US military intervention in Southeast Asia, was later widely criticised for its undeveloped and unstructured generalisations about political systems that are quite different.
Brian Doyle considers the people of his neighbourhood
Julian Madsen is a writer and researcher with al-Jazeera on Middle Eastern affairs. Having extensive knowledge of Arab culture and the political, social and economic landscape, Julian has lived in Egypt, Syria and Qatar.
While public attention has been focused on David Hicks, questions remain about Australia's other Guantanamo inmate. Was concern about exposure of Australia's rendering him to Egypt for torture the real reason behind his release in 2005?
The full text of "The selling of Islamic martyrdom and why some buy it", by Abraham Rushdi.
Heated disputes arose in Egypt late last year following comments by the Culture Minister Farouk Hosni that the rising number of Egyptian women wearing the Islamic headscarf or hijab was a "regressive" trend.