Libya’s NTC banned parties based on religion, tribe or ethnicity

Libya, preparing for elections in June, has banned parties based on religion, tribe or ethnicity, the government said on Wednesday, and a new Islamist party viewed as a leading contender signaled it would challenge the decision.

National Transitional Council spokesman Mohammed al-Harizy said the council passed the law governing the formation of political parties on Tuesday evening. (more…)

Tunisia’s election through the eyes of women

The role of women in the new Tunisia has been a controversial issue throughout the transitional period, with some fearful that they would lose precious rights from the previous era, and others arguing for a return to traditional values. (more…)

Court acts to stop arranged wedlock

A 16-YEAR-OLD Lebanese Australian girl has been placed on a nationwide airport watch list to stop her being sent to Lebanon against her will for an arranged marriage.

In what a magistrate has called an ”act of great bravery”, the girl sought a court order to stop her parents taking her out of Australia to marry a man she has met only once. (more…)

Lady Gaga’s latest album seized in Lebanon, deemed ‘offensive to religion’

Lady Gaga’s monster fans in Lebanon might not be able to get their hands on a copy of the singer’s latest album, “Born This Way,” any time soon.

The country’s government has seized copies of the album (more…)

In Lebanon, a Campaign to Get God Out of Politics

The few thousand people who gathered in Beirut on Sunday to march on the country’s parliament made for an unusual sight.

Sectarianism, Municipal Elections And The Voting Age

By Ghassan Karam
It is paradoxical when the response to an effort to eliminate sectarianism is voiced in sectarian terms.