Global Voices Online

Saudi blogger Saudi Jeans (Ahmed Al Omran) is marking his 23rd birthday without much fanfare. “As for my birthday, there will be no party: Just me and my beer coke, working on some unfinished projects and getting ready for the tough finals,” he explains.

Recent Links also in Middle East & North Africa

Mounir Bensaleh, who blogs on Des maux à dire [Fr], publishes pictures of the reopening of the Tramway line [Fr] in the Moroccan capital Rabat, which was abandoned 60 years ago.

“When a maid runs away from her employer's house, the police station is unable to act because there's no law criminalizing runaway maids. So the police station officer tells the Lebanese employee to say that she stole money,” writes Ethiopian Suicides.

Beirut Drive-by Shooting posts photos of the Billboards planted along the Lebanese roads. One billboard about Mothers' Day states: “because she gave you the gift of life” and the blogger comments: “…and you gave her backache, stretchmarks, swollen feet, indigestion, morning sickness, exhaustion, constipation, weight gain, bloating, dry skin, hair loss, hormonal mood swings, pain, varicose veins…”