Blog archive all
3rd January 2011
Mohamed Bouazizi, the jobless young man who set fire to himselfin Tunisia last month triggering a wave of anti-government demonstrations across the country, died of his injuries last night, according to a report on the nawaat website.
Bouazizi, 26, was selling fruit and vegetables in the street to… Read more
2nd January 2011
There are calls for a general strike in Tunisia tomorrow (Monday), according to various posts on Twitter. Meanwhile, more and more videos are appearing on the nawaat blog showing protests around the country.
I was particularly fascinated by one video showing a small but imaginative protest at an… Read more
2nd January 2011
Yemen's parliament has begun debating constitutional changeswhich, among other things, would allow President Salih to continue in power indefinitely.
The presidency is currently limited to two seven-year terms – meaning that Salih must leave office in 2013. Salih has already been in power in Sanaa… Read more
2nd January 2011
The Saudi ministry of culture and information has finally issued its long-threatened regulations "to protect society from erroneous practices in electronic publishing".
Along with most Arab regimes, the Saudis are nervously aware that the internet and other forms of electronic communication have… Read more
1st January 2011
The Tunisian regime seems to be clutching at straws. Yesterday, the official news agency reported that six local organisations, including the Road Traffic Association and the Professional Association of Banks, have congratulated President Ben Ali on hisrecent speech.
They allegedly think it "… Read more
1st January 2011
A bomb exploded outside a church in Egypt last night. The Egyptian health ministry says at least 21 people were killed and 43 injured. The interior ministry had earlier put the death toll at seven.
Initial reports blamed a car bomb, though officials are now suggesting it was a suicide bomber.
The… Read more
31st December 2010
"If it was happening in Iran instead of Tunisia, it would be on the front pages of all the newspapers." Complaints of this kind about coverage of the Tunisian uprising keep appearing on the internet – many of them suggesting that editors around the world are protecting Ben Ali's regime from… Read more
28th December 2010
Tunisian demonstrators confront the police by singing the national anthem
With the disturbances in Tunisia showing no sign of abating, President Ben Ali decided to address his people on television last night. But his seven-minute speech, also relayed to the wider Arab world via al-Jazeera, didn… Read more
27th December 2010
Demonstrations continued in Tunisia over the weekend and have now entered their second week – an extraordinary development in Ben Ali's police state.
Here is a YouTube video showing protests outside a government building in Kairouan, 120km north-west of Sid Bouzid, and here isanother at an… Read more
26th December 2010
Protests in Tunisia spread to the capital, Tunis, yesterday when human rights activists, trade unionists and students held a demonstration in the Place Mohamed Ali in solidarity with the people of Sid Bouzid. The nawaat.org website has videos and photographs.
Meanwhile, it is reported (via… Read more
ARAB ART ONLINE: Susan Hefuna: Al Sabr Gamil (Patience is Beautiful) 2007. Ink stained on wood 140 x 170 cm. More information | Click to enlarge
