Amira Al Hussaini · March, 2008

Latest posts by Amira Al Hussaini from March, 2008

Morocco: Tourism Demands Pig Farms

“One of the last things you would expect to find in Morocco is a pig farm. Given that the consumption of pork is a religious taboo it may come as a surprise that this is a growth industry. And the reason? Tourism,” writes The View from Fez.

Egypt: Human Rights Defenders Harassed

Or Does it Explode… links to a report submitted by the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies to the United Nations Human Rights Council which says there has been “huge harassments of human rights organisations and defenders have been increasingly subject to abusive and suppressive actions by government actors… in...

Morocco: Melon Season Soon

“Morocco's melon season is about to start. But the bad news is that the melons that appear in the souqs are the ones that Europe doesn't want. The Moroccan melon varieties are grown principally for export,” writes The View from Fez.

Qatar: Some Facebook Applications Banned

Ngourlay announces that Qatar Telecoms has blocked some of Facebook's applications. The blogger also lists five reasons the telecom provider censors sites: pornography, political criticism of Gulf countries and anti-Islamic sites; some sites are also blocked ‘by mistake’ and others are banned because they may be offensive to some people.

Middle East and North Africa: Client Number Nine

Eliot Spitzer's fall from grace grabbed the headlines as soon as newsmen caught wind of the scandal. Bloggers followed closely on their heel, including those from the Middle East and North Africa, whose attention was turned to the humiliation his wife must have suffered from and indignation of having her to stand by him as he announced his resignation.

Morocco: Journalist Fined $857,000 for Slander

“Rachid Nini, a popular Moroccan columnist and director of the daily Arabophone newspaper Almassae, was fined by a court in Rabat about $857000 for alleged defamation and slander of 4 prosecutors in the northern town of Ksar Kbir, said Almassae newspaper. The amount of the fine is exorbitant and unprecedented...

Libya: Wedding Blues

“Libyan weddings are BORING. They are all the same – the same food is served, the same music is played, the brides all look the same. BORING… sigh,” writes Khadija Teri, who had to attend two ceremonies.