It’s time of the year for Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2007. With all my reservations regarding Reporters Without Borders neutrality (having doubt after knowing that France is their financial supporter, although they are an NGO!), yet, their report was always a good indicator, if not the closest to reality - at least from my experiences [...]

I admit I have missed the news when it was announced end of last July, but better late than never.

Honored to be Bahraini by soul for living in Bahrain for the last four years, I am very happy to know that Wafaa Ganahi, a 23-year-old teacher from the Law Faculty of Bahrain University, won the [...]

In the fifth annual Reporters Without Borders Worldwide Press Freedom Index, in between 168 indexed countries, our beloved Arab countries makes sure to be among the worst.

Here is the list in order from “best” to “worst”:

Kuwait - 73
United Arab Emirates - 77
Mauritania - 77
Qatar - 80
Morocco - 97
Lebanon - 107
Jordan - 109
Bahrain - 111
Algeria - [...]

According to the annual report of the Arab Economic Unity Council, the Arab GDP is improving.

Her is the summery:

Arab gross domestic product reached $860 billion in 2004 compared to 746.1 billion the year before.

GDP growth ranged between 1.2 and 6.5 per cent while the GDP per capita rose to $2879 in 2004, compared to 2572 [...]

The United States has tied with Myanmar (the former Burma) for sixth place among countries that are holding the most journalists behind bars, according to a new report by the Committee to Protect Journalists. Each country is jailing five journalists. The United States is holding four Iraqi journalists in detention centers in Iraq and one [...]

WAN Press Freedom Report: The Arab World One of the Most Troubling Regions

The World Association of Newspapers’s press freedom review was presented to its Board, meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 14 November. The report states that the Middle East and North Africa is one of the most troubling regions in the world for press freedom, [...]

Unfurling banners and handing out leaflets, a score of Reporters Without Borders activists demonstrated outside the Algerian embassy in Paris today to mark Algerian newspaper editor Mohamed Benchicou�s 500th day in prison.

For years now, British Petroleum (BP) has published a fascinating annual report entitled Statistical Review of World Energy. Publicly available on their website, this report provides excellent insight into the sources and uses of fossil fuel energy around the world. Now what does this report have to do with the political issues canvassed on this blog? As it turns out, quite a bit.

Here’s some good news from the Jordan: Israel, Iran, Syria, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Palestine Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Algeria, Jordan and many other countries from around the globe (click below graph for a list of other countries), need no “Open SESAME magic” to be able to cooperate on an advanced scientific project.

In [...]

While you celebrate victory over Nazi Germany on May 8, 1945, will you admit the massacres of 45,000 Algerians?