Stories about Middle East & North Africa from April, 2008
Bahrain: Remembering Samar Al Ansari
From Bahrain, Soul Search shares with us a touching tribute blog by a Bahrain mother in memory of her daughter, Samar Al Ansari, who was killed in a car crash in September 2006.
Bahrain: Kick the Dog
Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif takes a trip down memory lane to his first days as a blogger – with a blog called Kick the Dog.
Overheard in Jordan
From Jordan, Salam shares a conversation she overheard at a fast food joint in Amman.
Bahrain: Sleep Troubles
From Bahrain, Umm Naief writes about her problems with insomnia.
Bahrain: MPs call to deport homosexuals
Out of the closet and out of the country? Ayesha Saldanha brings us blogger reactions on how Bahraini MPs are pushing for a new law to clampdown on homosexuality among locals and throw out expatriate gays and lesbians from the country.
Touring Libyan Blogs: Pride, Patriotism, Nationalism and Chastity
There obviously is a link between patriotism, nationalism and pride but where do the women figure in this equation? If you are curious, bear with me and let's dissect the situation that has brought all this out on the Libyan blogs, writes Fozia Mohamed, who connects the dots in this article.
Egypt: When Religion Sleeps With Politics
Egyptian blogger Zeinobia attacks Pope Shenouda III in this post for his recent Easter speech in which she claims he said people using Facebook will "roast in hell," reports Gr33nData from Cairo.
Iran:Toilets and Nuclear technology
Kaghz Pareh (means a piece of paper) says[Fa] that according to news sites Spain signed a contract with Iranian government to construct 1000 toilets in Iran. The blogger says I got surprised by this piece of news because each day government announces new inventions and progress in nuclear technology but...
Iran: Audio Story for all
Audio Story is a blog[Fa] where people can listen to different stories,articles and so on. In Audio Story we read that 5 million people,including the blind, can not read in Iran and thanks to this blog they can listen to stories, books and articles.
PangeaDay: Videos to change the world on May 10th
On May 10th 2008 at 18:00 GMT, 24 films will be broadcast during a 4 hour event. What makes this different is that this event, PangeaDay will be broadcast from six locations worldwide in seven different languages worldwide to be viewed through internet, television or cellphones with one unique purpose: to make each other know about the lives of others and focus on what makes us similar, instead of what makes us different and let us work together towards peace.
Syria: Explosive Nuclear News
Yesterday, the CIA released footage of an alleged Syrian North-Korean-built nuclear reactor. The footage "exploded" all over the news. Yazan Badran brings us the reactions of Syria's bloggers.
Saudi Arabia: Blogger Fouad Alfarhan Released
Prominent Saudi blogger Fouad Alfarhan was freed today. He is back home in Jeddah after 137 days in custody.
Iran: A series of aerial photos of Iran
Homeyra has given a link to a series of aerial photos of Iran taken by George Steinmetz.
Lebanon: “Embarrassed Arabic Language”
“Arabic is an embarrassed language. Not embarrassing, but embarrassed,” comments Tantalus about how cryptic some Arabic writers become in order to avoid taboo words.
Lebanon: Roumieh Prison Mutiny II
“The prisoners handed over the seven warders they were holding hostage and returned to their cells after having negotiated and handed over demands to the chief of internal security,” reports Lebanon News Network on the peaceful ending of the prison mutiny.
Lebanon: Cultural Renaissance
“There's a sort of Renaissance taking place in Lebanon – attributed partially to an massive influx of European tourists (and a marked absence of Gulfies) – art, culture, and creativity are becoming more the norm than the exception in public & semi-public spaces,” notes Finkployd with photos and video on...
Lebanon: Roumieh Prison Mutiny
“….of interest to the laymen, Roumieh prison is where the 4 Generals, Assayed, Azar, Hamdan; Hajj are kept … and where many of the Fath El Islam elements are imprisoned … I remain suspicious,” noted GPC on the mutiny taking place at the Roumieh prison in Lebanon.
Lebanon: CLuster Bombs
M Bashir from Lebanon draws our attention to the dangers of cluster bombs in his country – which are still claiming lives today.
Armenia: Nationalism & Remembrance
The Armenian Patchwork posts some photographs of the 23 April march to the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan by youth affiliated to the Armenian Revolutionary Federation — Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D). The blog says that it was surprised by the nationalism on show.
Armenia: Black Dog of Fate
On the occasion of the 93rd Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, The Armenian Odar Reads reviews Peter Balakian's Black Dog of Fate. Although the book has been around for some time , the review is quite timely given yesterday and is an interesting account of not just the Armenian Genocide,...
Iran: Iranian Leader and mountain climbing
Khbarnegar Osoolgara has published a photo of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iranian Leader,in mountain.
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