EGYPT: Thousands of Christians gather to pray for equality in a Muslim land

Around 7,000 Coptic Christians gathered at the Father Kyrillos church on the outskirts of Cairo to pray for an end to "discriminaton" during the celebration of the Egyptian Coptic New Year this weekend.

The gathering Friday came after calls by a number of Coptic organizations to abandon this year's celebrations as a protest against the perceived oppression of Christians in Egypt were met by deaf ears. 

Thousands of Copts attended ceremonial masses on the same day.

But groups like Youth Against Discrimination and Copts United for Egypt urged Copts to show anger by declaring Sept. 11 -- Coptic New Year -- a general sit-in for Christians throughout the country.

They asked people not to attend New Year masses, to stay home all day and wear all-black outfits in addition to decorating their windows with black flags.

IRAN: A glimpse into the Bahai seven's coming trial

A trial date has been set for seven leaders of the Bahai community in Iran who have been detained in Tehran’s Evin Prison since the spring of 2008, one of their lawyers said. 

After multiple delays, a new date of Oct. 18 has been set, lawyer Abdul-Fatah Soltani said. Soltani, who was recently released from the prison himself, said the group faces seven charges, including two very serious ones: "corrupting the Earth" and "espionage for Israel." 

Both are capital offenses, but Soltani said he doesn't think they will be sentenced to death, even if convicted. He offered a preview of their defense. 

EGYPT: Police arrest 155 for failing to keep Ramadan fast

Egyptian newspapers and human rights activists announced that 155 people were detained by police forces in Aswan, southern Egypt, for publicly eating, drinking or smoking during daylight hours in the holy month of Ramadan.

Islam requires the faithful to adhere to a dawn to dusk fast during the lunar month of Ramadan.

However, many of those arrested said that the arrests were random. Some claimed they were actually fasting when they were rounded up by police. 

"I didn’t break my fast, I was just buying a bottle of juice for breakfast time when officers [took] me away," one of the detainees told Al Youm Al Sabee newspaper.

SAUDI ARABIA: 'Pure' Islamic alternative to YouTube launched

In a move to preserve religious and moral values in cyberspace, a group of unidentified Saudis have launched a "clean" Islamic alternative to the leading video-sharing site YouTube. 

It's called NaqaTube.

Naqa means "pure" in Arabic. The website offers a collection of edited and Islamically "clean" clips from YouTube under the banner, “Participate with us in a clean website."

Site administrators censor video clips that express critical views of the government, Islamic scholars and members of the Saudi royal family. 

In keeping with Saudi Arabia's strict religious and moral codes, music videos and clips featuring women are also banned. Any music videos on NaqaTube must adhere to Islamic rules.  

GAZA: Has Hamas unofficially imposed Islamic dress code on students?

Educators in the Gaza Strip have begun enforcing an unofficial decree by the Hamas leadership requiring high school girls to wear Islamic dress, despite Hamas Education Minister Muhammad Asqoul denying such a policy as recently as two days ago, Arab news outlets reported.

"Palestinian society is committed by nature and does not need decrees to force it to be so," Asqoul said, according to a front-page report by Qays Safadi in the left-leaning Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar (Arabic link). Asqoul went on to describe the media furor surrounding the decision as a "tempest in a teapot."

But, as Safadi points out, Asqoul's comments directly contradict the signs posted outside schools informing girls that this year they are required to wear dark blue robes, a white headscarf and black or white shoes.

EGYPT: What's behind Jewish synagogue restoration?

Is historical preservation or modern day cultural politics behind the restoration of the Maimonides synagogue in Cairo's ancient Jewish quarter?  

Although most Egyptians are against efforts linking their country to Jewish or Israeli heritage, the move has been interpreted as an attempt by Culture Minister Farouk Hosni to win international recognition ahead of his controversial bid to become head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Hosni's bid to become the next UNESCO director-general was set back in 2008 when he said that he'd personally burn Hebrew books if he found any in Egyptian libraries. Since then, it is been reported that the ministry has been trying to make amends for Hosni's comments. It recently has begun allowing the translation of books written by Jewish and Israeli authors, a move that dismayed many Egyptians.

LEBANON: Quietly, Jewish community begins synagogue renovation

Since Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war, Beirut’s Maghen-Abraham synagogue sat empty as other buildings in the Wadi Abou-Jamil neighborhood were renovated into multimillion-dollar condos, offices or hotels. 

Last week, restoration began on the 84-year-old synagogue, Beirut's oldest remaining Jewish house of worship, launching what will be a yearlong, million-dollar undertaking. 

Private Jewish donors abroad, many of Lebanese descent, funded the project, along with a $150,000 donation from Solidere, Prime Minister-elect Saad Hariri’s company, according to the Lebanese Jewish Community Council. 

Lebanon's Jewish community once numbered 22,000, and Judaism is still recognized as an official religion in the country. But many Jews fled during the civil war, and now Lebanon is home to less than 200. A diaspora of 2,000 lives between Lebanon and other countries. Some of them are members of Maghen-Abraham's Facebook fan page.

SAUDI ARABIA: Swinger's sexual confessions get him arrested by morals cops

Mazen Abdul Jawad learned the hard way that in Saudi Arabia, a guy shouldn’t kiss and tell. 

While appearing on “The Bold Red Line," a Lebanese television program last week, Abdul Jawad detailed his sexual exploits, beginning with when he had sex with a neighbor at the age of 14, according to the English-language Arab News.

On the program, Abdul Jawad discusses foreplay, sexual encounters with women and even gives a recipe for an aphrodisiac.

The 32-year-old Jeddah resident shows off his room as the theme song from the movie "Swingers" plays in the background. The red-themed room contains perfumes and an Arabic book, “101 Questions About Sex." 

At one point, Abdul Jawad whips out a sex toy.

Saudi authorities were not pleased. He was later arrested.  Saudi authorities said they received 100 complaints about the segment. 

The director of the religious police (officially the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice) in Mecca condemned the program and held everyone involved culpable: 

“The program presents anomalies and deviancy in society that are unacceptable and immoral and should be punished according to Shariah.”

MIDDLE EAST: Swine flu to limit hajj pilgrimage for elderly and young

To curtail the spread of swine flu, Arab health ministers from across the Middle East have agreed that elderly, young and chronically ill Muslims should be forbidden from traveling to Saudi Arabia for the upcoming hajj and umrah pilgrimages.

The decision came after a meeting of health ministers from Egypt, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Jordan in Cairo late Wednesday, which was part of a special session of the Regional Committee for World Health Organization on the H1N1 flu virus. Those banned from making the pilgrimage include anyone over 65 and under 12, as well as pregnant women and the chronically ill. 

IRAQ: A Baghdad religious holiday without a major bombing

A major Shiite pilgrimage went smoothly Saturday in Baghdad, marking a success for Iraqi security forces after the departure of most US troops from the cities.

 

The four-day religious festival, which concludes Sunday, has been marred by violence in the past, but this year, the hundreds of thousands descending upon western Baghdad's Imam Mussa Kadhim shrine were spared catastrophic violence. Less than six people were killed in isolated attacks, according to security officials.

 

Pilgrims applauded the safety. “I trust the Iraqi police and army,” said Mohammed Fadel Hassan, 18, a pilgrim from Hilla who had walked to the shrine in Baghdad’s Kadhimiya neighborhood.