Stories from 30 October 2010
Egypt: From Dakar … with love
Fatma Emam, an Egyptian female blogger, wrote about her experience in searching for her real identity during her visit to Dakar.
Egypt: Unauthorized Hebrew translation of a novel
M. Lynx Qualey, commented on the latest news that Egyptian author Alaa Al Aswany has lashed out at an unauthorized Hebrew translation of his most popular novel “The Yacoubian building“.
Egypt: The Story of Totalitarianism
Egyptian-in-USA wrote interesting reflections from George Orwell's novel 1984, projecting them to the current political situation in Egyptian today.
Palestine: Autumn in Gaza
Lina, who blogs at Live From Gaza gives us a view of the brooding autumnal sky from her window.
Jordan: Political Cartoonists Take Aim at Campaign Posters
Jordanian social media writers continue to focus their writing about the November 9th parliamentary elections on the election posters covering the country, and particularly the capital city, Amman.
MENA: Women Writing; Women Reading
Canadian expat, Maryanne Gabbani, recommended a few of her favorite female writers from the Arab world. In a way, she is trying to prove her experience that while life for women in the Middle East is all sunshine and lollipops, women are not the doormats that they are imagined to...
Vietnam: Analysis on blog arrests
Saigonnezumi from Vietnam provides some background to the “crackdown’ of bloggers in Vietnam in the past year.
‘Bloggers for Malaysia’ group
The ‘Bloggers for Malaysia’ group was formed this month to protect the welfare of bloggers in Malaysia in light of the recent cases filed by the police against online critics of the government.
Malaysia: Universal Service Provision fund
Bloggers from Malaysia demand an accounting of the Universal Service Provision fund which is being collected from telecommunication companies in order to improve internet connectivity in the rural areas.
Malaysia: Questionable overseas trips of tourism minister
Wee Choo Keong, a blogger-parliamentarian from Malaysia questions the cost of the 16 overseas trips made by the tourism minister last year.
Mexico: Drug Gangs Using Guerrilla Tactics?
Tim Johnson says that, “Thursday’s killing of nine police is important for what it reveals about the tactical military capabilities of drug gangs.”
Pakistan: Paypal Denied
Faisal Khan updates the struggle of Pakistani net users to bring Paypal to Pakistan.
Pakistan: Who’s perception is this?
Faisal Kapadia at Deadpan Thoughts questions the transparency and methodology of the Transparency International's Pakistan operation and the validity of its corruption perception index.
Tanzania: Vote, don't wage war
“Today is the last day of campaigning before Tanzania and Zanzibar go to the polls to elect a new Government. Elections in Zanzibar are extremely close-fought events, though you wouldn’t guess it to look at the results over the last forty years. The ruling party, CCM (Chama Cha Mapinduzi, The...
South Africa: South Africans end week of “secrecy bill” protests
“On Wednesday, just before South African lawmakers were scheduled to debate amendments to the controversial Protection of Information Bill, thousands of protesters marched to the gates of Parliament in Cape Town to oppose the measure, which they called an apartheid-style secrecy bill,” Clifford Derrick reports.
Tanzania: God Bless Tanzania
God bless Tanzanians as they vote tomorrow: “Tomorrow is an important day for Tanzanians. It's the day to exercise their democratic right in the 2010 General Election. I would have loved to have been there in the run up as I know it has been quite different to the campaigning...
Iran: A blog for Islamic Wallpapers
An Iranian blogger creates Islamic Wallpapers from religious Saints to high- ranking clerics in his blog.
Iran:Palin, Crowley in Twitter Duel
According to several news sites “a tongue-in-cheek US birthday message to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over Twitter [by PJ Crowley State Department spokesman] may not have reached the intended recipient, but triggered a rebuke from someone else — Sarah Palin.”
