Stories about Bahrain 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.
Gulf: How things work
Smile O Smile shares this joke on “how things work” in Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman.
Bahrain: “Ministry websites an embarrassment”
Bahraini blogger Hussain Yousif suggests that the Bahraini government block its own ministry websites before any others, as he says many of them are out-of-date and of poor quality.
Bahrain: “Just Ban It”
Bahraini blogger The Dude is frustrated: “Our ‘parliament’, in their infinite wisdom, have decided that they can best serve society by banning everything and anything that they disagree with, for reasons that they clearly invent.”
Bahrain: Marley & Me
Hypnotic Verses, from Bahrain, has almost completed reading Marley & Me. Click here to see how much that booked has touched her.
Arab World: Gasping for Air!
A massive dust storm engulfed the entire Arabian peninsula, leaving the people of Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates, gasping for air. Here are some videos, photographs and blog entries on the crazy weather, which was unusual for this time of the year.
Bahrain: The importance of Arabic in advertising
Bahraini blogger aMaL laments the poor Arabic used in advertisements: “As an Arab country, and in the face of the capitalist global campaign to “blend” all cultures together and implant a consumerist heart in their core, it is our duty to preserve one of the few identity symbols we have...
Bahrain: No decent Internet provision?
Bahraini blogger Abdulla asks: “I seriously don’t get it, 22 licensed ISPs in Bahrain, and not a single company providing proper internet?”
Bahrain: No need for speed
Maldita, a Filipina living in Bahrain, thinks Bahraini teenagers should be provided with more recreational facilities – instead of using public roads to entertain themselves in their cars.
Bahrain: How much longer for Valentine's Day?
Bahraini blogger Farah Mattar imagines a scene in the future where Valentine’s Day is banned by Bahrain’s MPs: “We have received many complaints from individuals that their neighborhoods were turning into rose infested slums.”
Qatar and Bahrain: Disappearing the Internet
It would seem that another crackdown on Internet freedoms is occurring in the Middle East. Once thought to be the last bastion of free speech, the Internet has recently been subjected to a spate of blockings; and while censorship is no new thing to the region, the willingness of countries such as Bahrain and Qatar to adopt strict Internet policies akin to those in neighboring Saudi Arabia has created a sense of alarm amongst the online community.
Bahrain: A ban on pork?
Bahraini blogger Ammaro cannot believe some MPs have called for banning pork: “Banning something doesn't make people more religious…Oh, and this may shock you MPs, but the people who usually purchase pork AREN'T USUALLY MUSLIM.”
