Stories from 1 April 2008
Peru: Opera Singer To Close Central Square in Lima
Laslo Rojas does not think that the Main Plaza in Lima, Peru should be closed for the wedding of the opera singer, Juan Diego Florez [es], which is scheduled to take place on April 5. The opera singer had indicated that the central square would not be closed, but rather...
Saudi Arabia: Justice and the Constitution
Human Rights Watch has just released its country reports on Saudi Arabia, writes Saudi Jeans, who goes on to discuss justice and the constitution in his country.
Jordan: Highest Internet Prices After Morocco
“The Jordan Times is reporting that Jordan’s Internet prices are among the highest in the region due to the imposed 16 percent sales tax. In fact, Jordan ranks second only to Morocco, which applies a 20 percent sales tax on Internet,” writes An American in Jordan.
Crackdown on Algeria's Christian Community
Algeria's local Christian minority is facing a new crackdown from the government, reports …Or Does it Explode?
Panama: Using the OLPC as Vote-Seeking Machine
At OLPC News, A. Barrera writes about his experiences with trying to get the Panamanian government interested in participating in the One Laptop Per Child project and that “the XO, based on the acquisition and implementation scheme he has proposed (essentially a government top-down strategy), could become a political vote-seeking...
Malaysia: Hell Bank Note policy
Malaysian blogger Meshio is “totally against the ‘Hell Bank Note’ policy practiced worldwide, not just by Buddhist, but also by any other organizations which endorse the believe that by burning something material in this dimension, it would henceforth be received by another party in another dimension, commonly known as after-life,...
Nicaragua: Access to the Internet
Nicaragua has the lowest rates of access to the internet in all of Central America writes Economía y Más [es]. Approximately 3 out of every 100 Nicaraguans uses the internet.
Venezuela: Poor Experiences at Caracas Clinic
Luis Carlos Díaz of Periodismo de Paz [es] recounts some of the bad experiences with care for his loved ones in the Sanatrix Clinc in Caracas, Venezuela and posts on his blog to draw attention to to the poor service. The blog post also shows up as the third result...
Bahrain: Indecent Hand Gesture
Bahraini Mahmood Al Yousif draws our attention to what a hand gesture could cost you in Bahrain.
Saudi Arabia: Impressive Iranian Artist
Saudi blogger Rasheed Abou-Alsamh is impressed with Iranian artist Ramin Haerizadehme, whose works depict photomontages, and which went on display at Art Dubai.
Qatar: More Men than Women
“Ever Wondered what is Qatar best know for, other then the Olympic ambition, the booming economy, the 2nd worlds largest Natural Gas reserve… Well well, Qatar is also know to have the world’s highest male to female ratio. to be more specific, for every 2 male you have one female...
Qatar: On the Road to Victory
Saddavi at Qatar Living congratulates the Qatari football team for its first three points on the road to South Africa 2010 (Fifa World Cup), after beating Asian champions Iraq 2-0.
Qatar: Sami Alhajj's Hand Drawings Censored
US authorities have stopped the publishing of hand drawings by Sami Alhajj, Aljazeera cameramen imprisoned in Guantanamo, depicting his hunger strike and how he was tortured, reports Abdulrahman Warsame, from Qatar.
Oman: In Love with Windows Vista
From Oman, Blue Chi has just started using Windows Vista – and is loving it.
Egypt: Hundreds Arrested Ahead of Elections
The Angry Arab News Service links to a Human Rights Watch report which says that Egypt has arrested hundreds of opposition Islamists, including would-be candidates in local council elections due on April 8, amount to a “shameless bid” to fix the vote.
Iraq: Debunking Muqtada Al Sadr
From Iraq, Layla Anwar comments on Muqtada Al Sadr's latest interview with Al Jazeera.
Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, EU: Hunt for Karadzic
Balkan Baby writes about the implications of yet another failed attempt to capture Radovan Karadzic.
Montenegro: Podgorica
Csíkszereda Musings writes about Montenegro's capital Podgorica: “Podgorica used to be called Titograd, which is a marvelously evocative name, redolent of tractor factories, concrete apartment buildings and smog. So while I kind of regret that it's not still called Titograd, it doesn't really look like a Titograd.”