· February, 2009

Stories about West Asia & North Africa from February, 2009

GCC: Currency Dilemma for Arab Gulf Consumers

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) hopes to achieve a monetary union, with a common currency, by 2010. Bloggers from the region, which groups Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, debate the merits of the union and more importantly what name they want for their new currency.

27 February 2009

Lebanon: Christopher Hitchens’ Beirut Scuffle Sparks Debate

Former leftist turned conservative writer Christopher Hitchens ran into trouble in Beirut last week when he attempted to deface a poster/memorial of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP), a Hezbollah ally. Versions of the event claim a heavily intoxicated Hitchens shouted obscenities at the party, ultimately resulting in an altercation with several SSNP members nearby. These allegations have sparked a debate across continents, writes Antoun Issa.

27 February 2009

Morocco: Simply Delicious

This week, the talk in the blogoma seems to be about all things edible. Moroccan cuisine, widely considered one of the most complex and best in the world, is derived...

26 February 2009

UAE: A great shame

“Before the boom, people would travel to South East Asia to get their sin fix and bring back AIDS. The only difference being the prostitutes are here, and all the...

26 February 2009

Iraq: Predications and Politics

Iraqi Arab Woman Blues discusses ‘predictions’ she had made about the political situation in her country and others in the region – and how they proved to be correct.

26 February 2009

Jordan: Economic depression?

“I don’t know what is going on lately, but I feel that everyone around me are in a hibernation mood. Businesses are not moving. Everything is running very slowly. People...

25 February 2009

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Walid El Houri
Walid El Houri is the West Asia and North Africa Editor. Email him story ideas or volunteer to write.