Monumental buildings such as London's Palace of Westminster, Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris or even the unfinished Sagrada Familia basilica in Barcelona loom so large in the West's collective imagination and across its cities' skylines that there could hardly be a more obvious manifestation of European identity.
However, look a little closer at their pointed arches, their towers’ elaborate registers and the effusive facades, and the evidence of the debt that Western architecture owes to the Arab world becomes obvious, even ubiquitous.
The growth of Christian architecture from its earliest beginnings in fourth-century Syria through to the influence on the West of Muslim builders in the ensuing centuries is investigated in the new book Stealing From the Saracens: How Islamic Architecture Shaped Europe, by Diana Darke.
It explores architectural concepts and styles and how they passed from vibrant Middle Eastern capitals such as Damascus, Baghdad and Cairo, via Muslim Spain, Venice and Sicily into Europe. It also describes how medieval crusaders, pilgrims and merchants encountered Arab Muslim culture on their way to the holy land.
It is a history that has been, at best, forgotten and, at worst, wilfully ignored. The impetus for the book, Darke explains, came after the fire that tore through Notre-Dame cathedral in 2019.
“The reaction to that fire just made me angry, I am afraid,” she said at the launch of her book at an online seminar hosted by the Council for Arab-British Understanding.
“When everybody was trying to say this was a great symbol of French identity, I was thinking: 'Wait a minute, don’t people realise that this building is not nearly as European as people think?'”
The next morning, Darke tweeted a picture of Notre-Dame's forerunner, a fifth-century church much of which still stands in Syria's Idlib province.
“Notre-Dame's architectural design, like all Gothic cathedrals in Europe, comes directly from #Syria's Qalb Lozeh 5th century church,” she wrote.
“Crusaders brought the 'twin tower flanking the rose window' concept back to Europe in the 12th century.”
Darke was further inspired to write the book during a visit to the Mezquita in Cordoba, an eighth-century Andalusian mosque that was converted into a cathedral after the expulsion of Spain’s Muslim rulers.
“I was so shocked when I went to Cordoba to see the level of cultural appropriation at the Mezquita and the fact that the Syrian origins have simply not been talked about,” she said. “If you didn't know, you could honestly not be aware that it had originally been a mosque.”
Islam's influence on European architecture continued as the Muslim world also changed. This is seen in the Mamluk influence imported to Venice from Cairo or the way Ottoman-era structures inspired Sir Christopher Wren's construction of St Paul's Cathedral in London.
Wren himself observed that the Gothic style that flourished in Europe in the Middle Ages would be more aptly referred to as Saracen style.
The misnomer would return with the Gothic Revival, a style seen in structures such as London’s Houses of Parliament as well as churches and other buildings built across Europe in the 19th century. The term could not be more misleading, Darke believes.
“Somehow that term has stuck, which is so clearly wrong. I mean, the Goths did not originate any of this stuff,” she said.
The message contained within Stealing From the Saracens has been widely welcomed by an array of religious and secular figures.
Lord Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, said Darke’s book “shows how our cultures – including our religious cultures – interact and interweave in ways that challenge all kinds of assumptions we might make about our history”.
Williams went on to say that it “poses essential questions about the possibility of a shared and human civilisation in the future”.
Darke explained that she was attempting to highlight the long history of connectivity between world cultures.
"What I'm trying to show in this book is the way that all cultures are interdependent and that everything builds on everything else that was there before," she said. "All these cultures interact in ways that we really need to understand.
“And looking back across the centuries, there is no doubt whatsoever that an awful lot more came to the West.”
The message could hardly be more essential when in so much of the world, not least in Europe, nationalism and Islamophobia are on the rise.
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
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Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
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'My Son'
Director: Christian Carion
Starring: James McAvoy, Claire Foy, Tom Cullen, Gary Lewis
Rating: 2/5
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Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
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Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
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The Specs
Engine 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 582bhp (542bhp in GTS model)
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Price: Dh649,000 (Dh549,000 for GTS)
US tops drug cost charts
The study of 13 essential drugs showed costs in the United States were about 300 per cent higher than the global average, followed by Germany at 126 per cent and 122 per cent in the UAE.
Thailand, Kenya and Malaysia were rated as nations with the lowest costs, about 90 per cent cheaper.
In the case of insulin, diabetic patients in the US paid five and a half times the global average, while in the UAE the costs are about 50 per cent higher than the median price of branded and generic drugs.
Some of the costliest drugs worldwide include Lipitor for high cholesterol.
The study’s price index placed the US at an exorbitant 2,170 per cent higher for Lipitor than the average global price and the UAE at the eighth spot globally with costs 252 per cent higher.
High blood pressure medication Zestril was also more than 2,680 per cent higher in the US and the UAE price was 187 per cent higher than the global price.
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HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
EPL's youngest
- Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal)
15 years, 181 days old
- Max Dowman (Arsenal)
15 years, 235 days old
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- Harvey Elliott (Fulham)
16 years, 30 days old
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Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten
Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a month before Reaching the Last Mile.
Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
