9 August 2009

Stories from 9 August 2009

Palestine: Remembering Shafiq Al Hout

On 2 August, founder member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) Shafiq Al Hout died. Al Hout helped found the PLO in 1964, was appointed PLO representative in Lebanon, and survived ten Israeli assassination attempts during the Lebanese Civil War. Arab bloggers have been paying tribute.

9 August 2009

Pakistan: Lawyers On A Rampage

The recent news of some lawyers harassing members of civil society, journalists and the police has raised a lot of eyebrows. Pakistani bloggers remember the heroic role of these men of law in the inspirational and much successful Lawyers movement and question these actions.

9 August 2009

Iran: Twitter and Facebook in Trial

Yesterday, Iranian authorities held the second round the of mass trial of protestors and reformist politicians. Defendants in this round included a 24 year-old French woman, Clotilde Reiss, who was accused of...

9 August 2009

Greece: Armenian singer passes away

Unknown to most Armenians, but loved by many Kurds for his songs sung in the Kurmanji dialect of Kurdish, Aram Tigran has passed away in Athens, Greece. Born in 1934 in Syria, Tigran's death has affected many, and not least those recognizing the important contribution he made as a cultural bridge between Armenians and Kurds.

9 August 2009

Hungary: Bloggers Mourn Tamás Cseh

It's very hard to explain the role of singer Tamás Cseh, who died in Hungary this week, in the life of the young generations willing to understand their parents' socialist past. Nobody could describe what socialism looked like, or what the real socialist gym shorts looked like. Nobody but Tamás Cseh.

9 August 2009

Egypt: A Dog Named Anwar El Sadat

Love or hate him, naming a dog Anwar El Sadat in I love you man is creating a ripple in the Egyptian blogosphere. Why are many Egyptians opposed to having a dog named after their former president in a movie?

9 August 2009

Georgia, Russia: Cyber Attacks on Blogger ‘Cyxymu’

In 2008, the Russo-Georgian war coincided with the Beijing Olympics, diverting some of the public attention from the peaceful sporting event. This week, cyber attacks on LJ, Twitter and Facebook, targeting Tbilisi-based blogger cyxymu, have added an extra dimension to the coverage of the war's first anniversary.

9 August 2009