Each year on the last Wednesday in October, Muslims (and non-Muslims) around the world are wearing pink hijabs, ribbons and more to raise awareness for breast cancer research and funds. Hailed as “Global Pink Hijab Day,” the event is not only commemorating October as Breast Cancer Awareness month, but also encouraging questions about the hijab and Islam. 

Pakistani author Ali Eteraz has garnered a lot of attention recently, especially since his newly released memoir, Children of Dust, has landed on O, The Oprah Magazine‘s coveted Fall Reading Guide. Children of Dust is an account of the author’s life in rural Pakistan, encompassing his move to the Bible Belt in the United States and then to the Middle East. 

As Egyptians gear up for the 2011 elections, speculation has begun about who will be on the ballot. Will it be the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei? Or perhaps Arab League Chief, Amr Mussa. And which Mubarak will it be? Current dictator, err I mean president, Hosni, or his politically involved son, Gamal? 

Have you seen “Couples Retreat?” It’s this hilarious new movie where 25 couples embark on a journey to one of Malaysia’s beautiful tropical island resorts and although only one of the couples is there to work on their marriage, the others soon discover that participation in the couples’ therapy program is not optional ... and it’s state-sponsored! It is laugh-out-loud funny because seriously, what nation would set up a state-sponsored couples’ retreat? Ha!

Rola Dashti and Aseel Al-Awadi, two of the four newly elected female MPs to Kuwait’s National Assembly, have refused to wear the hijab, or headscarf, in parliament. This act has angered some of their male colleagues, who say that these women are completely disregarding an amendment on an election law instated in 2005 that requires female voters and MPs to follow sharia. Dashti and Al-Awadi are arguing, however, that the law does not specify how and where women are required to follow sharia in the gulf state. 

Ctrl.Alt.Shift is a UK-based organization whose mission is to fight social and global injustices. In 2008, they held a short film competition based around the global issues of war and peace; gender and power; and HIV and its stigma. They selected five winners in January 2009 and this short film was among them.

The curtains have finally opened at Iraq’s National Theater, after 6 years of turmoil through the war. Though the theater was looted in 2003, recent efforts from the Cultural Ministry to rebuild the city’s art scene have lead to the opening of “To enjoy the sweetness you must taste the bitterness,” a comedy that was written, produced, directed and acted in by Iraqis. 

When Batheos Vloesman and his colleagues began selling street names to raise money for a children’s center in the West Bank, I bet they never anticipated that one of those streets would be named after a Twitter account. For $140, Arjan El Fassed, a Dutch-Palestinian, was able to name a street “@arjanelfassed tweetstreet.” Now his account will possibly be glorified until the end of time. 

Put away the gladiator boots, ruched bodices, and off-the-shoulder chiffons, ladies. The Fashion Police seem to have fallen in love with something totally unprecedented: the niqab!

Last week, Egypt suspended its ties with the Louvre after accusing the museum of ignoring an agreement that requires stolen or smuggled artifacts to be returned to their original grounds. Egypt claimed that five fresco fragments were stolen from the Valley of the Kings at Luxor and then illegally sold to the French museum between 2000 and 2003. Though the Louvre claims the artifacts were acquired in good faith, its commission voted unanimously to have them returned to Egypt, after which normal ties would once again continue.