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North Africa

Libyan Berbers struggle to assert their identity online

A screenshot from Tawalt

In February 2009, the popular Libyan Berber website Tawalt shut down under government pressure. Does this spell the end of nascent efforts to promote Berber language and culture online? Aisha al-Rumi investigates.

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Asmahan serenades in a nightclub. From Gharam wa Intiqam (1944)

Absent participatory government, the film industry became a key political battleground in the late French empire. Historian Elizabeth F. Thompson compares struggles for control of the cinema in late colonial Fez and Damascus.

'I Hope One Day I may Publish Freely': Tunisian journalist Sihem Bensedrine

Sihem Bensedrine. Olivier Grobet, www.humanitaire.ws

All the journalists working with Kalima have been persecuted in their family life, in their job and so on. Every member of our team has faced a great many violations of their rights, reveals Sihem Bensedrine in conversation with Co-Editor Lawrence Pintak.

Talking back: Exiled Libyans use the Web to push for change

A typical Internet cafe in Libya. Photograph by Claudia Gazzini.

When Claudia Gazzini went in search of the Libyan blogosphere, she found neither the blogs nor the bloggers. But what she did find was an increasingly vocal exile community using interactive websites and forums to push for change in their homeland.

Arab Media Wire

CPJ asks Jordanian king to toss out cyber law The Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to defending press freedom worldwide, is deeply concerned about a provisional law on cyber crimes that was approved by the cabinet of ministers on August 3.
The Loss Of Popularity Of Egyptian Blogging The active blogs of a few years ago, which scrutinised social violence and confrontations between the opposition and the police, seem to have waned in popularity today. Their success was attained neither by Facebook nor by mini-blogs, like dormant volcanoes whose eruption has been postponed eternally.
Media Habits of MENA Youth - AUB/Issam Fares Institute report "The survey found the participants highly adept at using new media. They spent considerable time consuming new and traditional media, but much less time producing media content."
Kuwait likely to follow UAE, Saudi BlackBerry ban Kuwait officials are likely to follow Saudi Arabia and the UAE with a ban on certain BlackBerry services, local Arab media has reported.
UAE to suspend Blackberry service on security fears The United Arab Emirates' plan to suspend BlackBerry services in October has sparked concern among users in the Gulf Arab state over the impact it might have on free speech and on companies which rely on the services.
Al Jazeera Files a Lawsuit Against the Egyptian Newspaper Al Ahram Al Jazeera has filed a lawsuit against the Egyptian-based newspaper Al Ahram Newspaper following the publication of what it calls false and damaging statements about the international news network and its management. Al Jazeera says tThese allegations, published in June in an article entitled "Jazeerat Al-Taharrush" ("Al Jazeera an Island of Harassment"), were completely baseless, and without merit, and were mainly aimed at damaging the reputation of the Al Jazeera Network.
Re-thinking 'civil society' in the Arab world Rami Khouri on the role of NGOs in the Arab world
Journalism court threat to Iraqi media Media freedom in Iraq has taken another turn for the worse with the announcement of plans for a special court to handle journalism cases.

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