· July, 2008

Stories about International Relations from July, 2008

Syria: Forgotten Prisoners and Real Heros

An Egyptian prisoner is still being held in an Israeli jail, according to reports being posted by bloggers, in the aftermath of the Prisoner swap between Israel and Hezbollah. Razan Ghazzawi reflects on what the Syrian bloggers had to say about this and the exchange of prisoners in general.

30 July 2008

Arabeyes: Any Legal Foundations for Al Bashir's Indictment?

Since July 14, when the possibility of Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al Bashir's indictment by the International Criminal Court was raised, bloggers around the world have reacted to the matter. Today, we visit blogs from the Middle East and North Africa to learn how they feel.

30 July 2008

Cuba, Mexico: Good Relations

“I’ve always admired how Mexico, despite its own internal contradictions and conflicts, was able to dodge the US pressure on Cuba…in the early 1960s”: On a recent trip to Mexico...

30 July 2008

Bosnia & Herzegovina: 7 Serbs Convicted

Srebrenica Genocide Blog reports on the sentencing of “Milenko Trifunović, Brano Džinić, and Aleksandar Radovanović to forty-two (42) years long-term imprisonment, the Accused Miloš Stupar, Slobodan Jakovljević, and Branislav Medan...

29 July 2008

Arabeyes: Head Over Heels for Muhannad

A strange phenomenon has gripped the Arab world and Arabs seem to agree on something. It is an infatuation with a Turkish soap opera, dubbed in Arabic, and its stunning star Muhanned (played by Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ), whose romantic trysts are beamed on television screens across the region. The obsession of some people with the soap has also prompted the Grand Mufti of the Islamic world, Shaikh Abdul Aziz Al Shaikh, from Saudi Arabia, to issue a fatwa (religious edict) banning the drama, saying watching it is Haram (a sin).

29 July 2008

Egypt: A Man's Views on Sexual Harassment in Egypt

In a series of posts tackling sexual harassment in Egypt, Marwa Rakha sheds light on a male Egyptian blogger's interpretation of what is really happening on the ground. "The Sex Files," by blogger Wael Nawara presents a rather interesting perspective on sexual harassment in Egypt.

29 July 2008

Egypt Silences the Voice of Iran

Egyptian authorities shut down the Cairo office of an Iranian TV network over a film that justifies the killing of former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat by Islamic militants. Marwa Rakha sums up the opinions of Egyptian blogger Dina Ayoub about the incident in this post.

29 July 2008