Culture

Peter Heinlein | Addis Ababa 09 December 2009 An old saying that the greatest achievements were at first only dreams could well apply to Ethiopia. Some Ethiopians are dreaming big. Our correspondent visited the Ethiopian town of Harar and tells the story of dreamers who see adventure, excitement, and a possible tourist bonanza where others see only rocks and bones.

Editor's note: Hanna Ingber Win, the Huffington Post's World Editor, was recently invited by the UN Population Fund to visit its maternal health programs in Ethiopia, which has one of the world's worst health care systems. In the U.S., a woman has a 1 in 4,800 chance of dying from complications due to pregnancy or childbirth in her lifetime. In Ethiopia, a woman has a 1 in 27 chance of dying.

The agreement to permit short prayer breaks and accommodate rules against handling pork could set a precedent. By CHRIS SERRES, Star Tribune

WASHINGTON, September 5, 2008 (AFP) — As Islam makes inroads in the United States, American Muslims are setting up mega-mosques that combine religious tradition with typical American convenience.

By Faiza Saleh Ambah Washington Post Foreign Service Sunday, August 3, 2008; A17 JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia -- A Turkish soap opera featuring an independent fashion designer and her amazingly supportive and attractive husband is emptying the streets whenever it's on and has more than doubled the number of Saudis visiting Turkey this summer.

LA VERRIÈRE, France — When Faiza Silmi applied for French citizenship, she worried that her French was not quite good enough or that her Moroccan upbringing would pose a problem.

When Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Anglican Church, suggested that the British public consider "some accommodation" to Islamic law, and that such an accommodation ultimately was "unavoidable", the response was one of outrage. Yet in most cases, Williams's words were wildly misinterpreted, writes Stephen Jones. When even the most progressive writers about Islam do not denounce the concept of Sharia, would it not be more productive to ask how a symbol that stands for all that is good comes to be used to justify oppression? Could it be that unwillingness to countenance references to the Sharia betrays a reluctance to examine the ethical and moral bases of legal norms in the West?

The Somalia town of Galkayo is known as a refuge from the violence to the south. But girls and women who are separated from their clans know little safety: An 8-year-old was raped and her mother must keep working with the man who did it.