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Stories about West Asia & North Africa from August, 2008
Egypt: Respecting Traffic Lights
What does people's attitudes towards crossing the road have to do with where their country stands in the world? Egyptian blogger Egyptian in the USA brings us the answer in this translation from Arabic.
Libya: The Ramadan Special
Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting, begins in all parts of the Islamic world. Depending on where you are located, it could have either started, will start tomorrow or even Tuesday in some areas. Fozia Mohamad shares the Ramadan spirit from Libyan blogs in this post.
Turkey: Questions on Their Nuclear Program
Kurdish blogger Rasti questions the motives behind Turkey's nuclear program: “Although there has been no official proof that Turkey is actively building a nuclear weapons, some experts on Turkey's nuclear...
Egypt: A protest for Turkish TV series Nour
Egyptian Blogger Zeinobia, wrote her reactions regarding the recent news stating that a group of high class Egyptian ladies led a protest all over Marina against the Imam of Marina’s...
Northern Cyprus: Similarities with Georgia?
While discussing the plight of unrecognized states, blog Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus states that “If Russia does decide to recognize Georgia’s two separatist regions, they’d be in a diplomatic...
Egypt: Olympics Investigation
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has ordered an enquiry into why Egypt performed poorly in the Olympics, reports Tom Gara.
Egypt: Orange Ambulances
The Egyptian Health Ministry has introduced orange ambulances to replace their white ones. Zeinobia is not pleased.
Iraq: Fascination for Language
“I am no linguist, but as far as I can remember I have always held a strange fascination for Language,” notes Iraqi blogger Layla Anwar.
Libya: Rain and Sewers
“We had rain today. It rained for about five minutes. Just long enough to churn up the sewer system. Now all of Tripoli smells like sewer gas,” writes Khadija Teri,...
Iran: Muslim Bloggers and election
The Muslim Bloggers Association, a very dynamic group of Islamist bloggers in Iran announced[Fa] that five members of its central committee were elected. You can watch several photos of their...
Iran: Watch an old commercial
Thanks to You Tube we can watch an Iranian pre-revolution commercial.
Saudi Arabia: Independent women
While there are no doubt restrictions for women living in Saudi Arabia, they do not necessarily match the oppressive image that many foreigners have of the country. In this post we have advice for women wanting to visit Jeddah alone, a review of a women-only hotel in Riyadh, and a plea to those foreigners who feel they want to speak on behalf of oppressed Saudi women.
Armenia: Opposition Truce
Unzipped commends the opposition in Armenia for deciding to postpone planned street protests and other political actions ahead of next week's historic football match with Turkey in Yerevan. The move...
Iraq: “Egyptians Recruited to Iraq”
“According to Egyptian website Al-Mesryoon, last two months there was a campaign in America to recruit Egyptians as interpreters in the American forces and to be sent to Iraq. The...
Iraq: Selling Fuel in Baghdad
“The gas and the fuel for cars has always been a problem for Iraqis inside Iraq, the irony that Iraq has one of the worlds largest reservoirs of oil is...
Bahrain: Bogus Degrees
Bogus degrees? Bahraini Mahmood Al Yousif exposes those who helped themselves to some.
Jordan: Variety Show
7iber, from Jordan, details a cultural variety show with a difference in this post.
Tunisia: Eleven Minutes
“Another Paulo Coelho book that I've read recently and that I've been meaning to write about is ‘Eleven Minutes’. The book is pretty different from the other books I've read...
Dubai: Nugget full of Bone
Writing in Dubai Consumer Mirror, moryarti found a bone in a KFC nugget.
Bahrain: The high cost of Ramadan
Bahraini blogger Yagoob describes the effect of inflation on the holy month of Ramadan.
Saudi Arabia: Growing fewer dates
Saudi Jeans tells us about date-growing in Saudi Arabia: “Growing dates has become a dying profession.”