Stories from 5 April 2010
Lebanon: Dissemination of Information in the Arab World
“In 1991, the Arabs were terrified of Western supremacy in technology (smart bombs for example that CNN kept showing their devastating effects in collateral damages on civilians)… In 2003, Arab/Moslem masses had Al Jazeera channel to cover the war among 32 other satellite channels…This information victory scared the Western civilization…”...
Saudi Arabia: Someone tried to Hack into my Blog
Saudi blogger Fuad Al Farhan sends out a tweet (Ar) saying that someone tried to hack into his blog and WordPress sent him an alert for resetting his password.
Arab World: iPad Fever Grips Arabia
Quick to purchase the latest gadgets and show them off, some bloggers and Twitter users from the Arab world are doing the iPad justice. Here's what a Saudi student and a Kuwait resident have to say about Apple's new toy.
Saudi Arabia: Religious Police in Trouble?
The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice rules Saudi Arabia with an iron fist. Crossroads Arabia reports what could signal trouble to the commission – better known as the religious police.
Saudi Arabia: At the Crossroads of Writing
Passionate about writing? From Saudi Arabia, Hariohari shares those thoughts.
Bahrain: Defending the Kingdom
Around 5,000 people from Bahrain have joined a Facebook group entitled: You don't deserve to live in a country you don't protect (Ar).
Jordan: A Busy Week for Culture Vultures
Jordanian blog 7iber sums up events happening in Amman in the week from April 4 to 10. “This is one of those weeks where the culture vultures among us will have some very difficult choices to make, because there are so many interesting events taking place every single day,” says...
Jordan: Facebook Page for Jordan Blogs
Jordanian blogger Osama Al Romoh (Ar) has created a Facebook page for Jordanian blogs here.
D.R. of Congo: Five misconceptions about Congo conflict
Jason discusses five misconceptions about the conflict in the D.R. of Congo: “1. The conflict in the DRC is all about minerals. Not quite. The war began in 1996, with three main causes: the collapse of the Zairian state after 32 years of misrule; the spillover from the Rwandan genocide...
Nigeria: Leading Nigerian leftist gone
“Abubakar Rimi, arguably, northern Nigeria most visible politician of the leftist persuation died yesterday of “cardiac arrest” after witnessing an armed robbery episode. Rimi has been diabetic,” reports Chidi Opara.
Zambia: Failed education policy
The ruling party in Zambia has failed to deliver on education: “ince the MMD came to power, we have seen tens of thousands of Grade 7 and Grade 9 students being spilled onto the streets every year.”
Ethiopia: Art exhibition inspired by Ethiopian immigrants
“Wodi enna wedih” is an art exhibition on Ethiopian immigrants: “The highly experimental and stimulating art works using multimedia and installations are inspired by the plight of Ethiopian immigrants.”
South Africa: White supremacist leader killed
Africa Is a Country writes about the murder of the South African white supremacist leader, Eugene Terreblanche. He was hacked to death by his workers.
Sri Lanka: On Military Tourism
“The war is over and civilians can hop Air Force flights now.” Indrajit Samarajiva at Indi.ca writes about a personal experience of military tourism in Sri Lanka.
Bhutan: Education Is A Struggle
“Education is free in Bhutan but individual struggle for education is costly”, comments Tomlax at Kuzu-Bhutan Weblog while describing his 15 year long struggle to get graduated.
India: Wheat Harvest In North India
“Have you seen wheat being harvested in North India?” asks Deepa Krishnan at Desicritics. She then takes us to a long walk into a golden-yellow wheat field in Rajasthan with her photo-essay.
China: Lying society
Xujun from Inside-out China translated a local magazine's interview with Wu Si, the chief editor of an intellectual journal, Yanhuang Chunqiu. Wu accounted for the character of lying society by looking into traditional and contemporary Chinese political and governance system
China: A cadre died in police custody
Very often, there are news about the “un-natural death” of citizens during police custody. The latest case is the death of a middle range cadre in Yunnan. Will his death bring changes to the system? (more from GoKunming)
Lebanon: First Muslim-Christian Feast
“This year, Lebanon finally celebrated its first Muslim-Christian feast: the Annunciation (البشارة) on March 25th… At first, I was quite skeptical about this inter-religious feast…[later] I started to feel that there was something good about that celebration…” writes Worried Lebanese about the newly declared unified Muslim-Christian Holiday commemorating the Virgin...
Lebanon: Chant and Scent
While hundreds of well dressed Lebanese were flocking towards the churches of Beirut to the religious chants emanating from loud speakers, a strong scent of the shiploads of cows penetrated every street and house. This took place on the night of Good Friday as reported by Bech.
Peru: Imprisoned Police Officers Use YouTube to Call Strike
Through YouTube, two imprisoned police syndicate leaders managed to send out their calls for a Police strike protesting low salaries on April 5th. Although they are in jail for organizing a previous strike, that didn't stop Edward Casas and Richard Ortega Quispe from lending their voices to make the call...
