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Hollywood film on prophet's life set for remake
Tuesday, October 28, 2008 (640 reads)
By Xan Brooks and Riazat Butt
28 October 2008
The Guardian
It was one of the most controversial films of the 1970s: an English-language biopic of the prophet Muhammad that was bankrolled by Libyan leader Muammar Gadafy and went on to trigger a fatal siege ahead of its US premiere.
Now The Message could be scheduled for a grand return to the fray courtesy of a remake.
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Charities, celebs distance themselves from Israeli settlement-builder
Tuesday, October 28, 2008 (629 reads)
By Adalah-New York
28 October 2008
The October 28 release of the celebrity portrait book Hollywood Pinups by photographer Timothy White is being marred by controversy, as a charity and stars distance themselves from Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev who provided the jewelry worn by stars in the book. Oxfam America is named in the book as recipient of White's book sales proceeds, and on the page immediately before, Leviev is thanked for his "support and contribution" to the book. In response, Oxfam America, which had renounced Leviev in January, has again decried Leviev's settlement construction and diamond mining practices, and announced that it will be informing others of "the deliberate strategy of Leviev Diamonds to connect itself with unwitting charities and celebrities." In June, UNICEF renounced all connections with Leviev.
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Publishers seek new talent in Arab world
Thursday, October 16, 2008 (1124 reads)
By Alison Flood and Ian Black
16 October 2008
The Guardian
Western publishers are launching a drive to tap the Arab world for new stars, hoping to bridge the language gap with more than 200 million native Arabic speakers - and make money from selling books.
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Woodward book puts boot into Bush
Monday, September 08, 2008 (1177 reads)
By Ed Pilkington
8 September 2008
The Guardian
The Bush administration will brace itself this morning for a fresh round of adverse publicity with the appearance of the latest exposé from the investigative reporter Bob Woodward that portrays the US government as being riddled with dissension over the Iraq war.
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Abu Dhabi looks to Hollywood as next investment opportunity
Thursday, September 04, 2008 (667 reads)
By Lucy Cockcroft
4 September 2008
Daily Telegraph
Abu Dhabi, fresh from spending £200m on a Premier League football club, has turned its attention to Hollywood.
State-owned Abu Dhabi Media Company (ADMC), whose assets include the Holy Quran Radio, has started a $1bn (£560m) production unit to invest in Hollywood and other film industries.
It is part of country's strategy to become a global leader in the production of content.
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Revealed: Britain's secret propaganda war against al-Qaida
Tuesday, August 26, 2008 (195 reads)
By Alan Travis, home affairs editor
26 August 2008
The Guardian
A Whitehall counter-terrorism unit is targeting the BBC and other media organisations as part of a new global propaganda push designed to "taint the al-Qaida brand", according to a secret Home Office paper seen by the Guardian.
The document also shows that Whitehall counter-terrorism experts intend to exploit new media websites and outlets with a proposal to "channel messages through volunteers in internet forums" as part of their campaign.
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Tories' favourite think-tank sued by Muslim group
Friday, August 15, 2008 (171 reads)
By Amol Rajan
15 August 2008
The Independent
Policy exchange, the right-wing think-tank with close links to Conservative leader David Cameron's inner circle, is facing legal action for accusing British mosques of distributing extremist literature.
The Independent has learnt that the Al-Manaar Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre in west London has hired the law firm Carter Ruck to sue the think-tank for defamation. An initial complaint will be made "very soon", a source close to the case said.
Al-Manaar claims that Policy Exchange fabricated several receipts used as evidence of purchase. The North London Central Mosque in Finsbury Park, from which the jailed radical preacher Abu Hamza gave sermons, is also understood to be pursuing libel action against the think-tank through the solicitors' firm Dean and Dean.
Last October the BBC's Newsnight had been due to run an exclusive report on the findings of an article written for Policy Exchange by Denis MacEoin entitled The Hijacking of British Islam. Mr MacEoin argued that extremist literature was widely available in British mosques and shops adjoining them, that much of it was funded by the Saudi Arabian government, and that the Finsbury Park mosque was a major perpetrator of such distribution.
But when Richard Watson, the reporter covering the story, and Peter Barron, then editor of Newsnight, examined the report in detail, they found that five receipts used as incriminating evidence looked fake.
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Shia scholars demand new C4 film on their faith
Tuesday, July 29, 2008 (183 reads)
By Mark Sweney
29 July 2008
The Guardian
A group of leading Shia Muslim scholars are threatening to take their grievances about a Channel 4 documentary on the Qur'an to Ofcom, unless the broadcaster apologises to viewers and commissions a second programme on their faith.
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Misleading and defamatory: Channel 4 accused over documentary on Qur'an
Monday, July 28, 2008 (228 reads)
By Riazat Butt, religious affairs correspondent
28 July 2008
The Guardian
It was described as an "exemplary piece of programme making" by an award winning film-maker which launched a week of television coverage of Islam.
But a Channel 4 documentary on the Qur'an has angered a group of leading Shia Muslim scholars, who have criticised it for making "seriously inaccurate statements" about their branch of the faith.
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 About This section is a daily, comprehensive source of news on Arab issues from Al Jazeera, the BBC and Agence France Presse, among others.
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