Khabgard,an Iranian blogger, says[Fa] that according to a publisher there are more than 100 books waiting for long time to get Iranian government's permission to get published.The blogger calls it a new record for Iranian State!
Just today I went to the appropriate government office to request permission to publish a magazine and was informed that the backlog of requests stretches back five years!! And the committee that decides meets for two hours every week. How absurd is this?
Krista, from the collective blog Muslimah Media Watch, shares her family's passion for “ridiculous and tacky” salt and pepper shakers. Their latest acquisition, a gift bought in Dubai, has raised a lot of questions in Krista's mind.
How do international media represent cities in South America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East? Is it fair or helpful to development? A symposium of scholars from the London School of Economics in London, United Kingdom explore this topic. See video.
As the situation in Syria worsens, and more terrifying reports arrive from the Homs district of Houla, Foreign Policy-hosted blog Turtle Bay summarizes a report [PDF] from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the UN observer mission. This “gloomy” account clearly shows that measures recommended by Kofi Annan have not been implemented, and a viable peace plan is not yet in place despite diplomatic pressure. Ban Ki-moon notes that “while many fear the implications of a further militarization of the conflict, some have doubts that peaceful change is possible.”
Local open governance activists in Tunisia have launched the first open data website showing the municipal budget [ar, fr] of the city of Sayada for the current fiscal year. The Tunisian open governance community [ar, fr] has had some success in increasing the government's transparency; they have already convinced the Tunisian presidency to reveal its budget.
Just today I went to the appropriate government office to request permission to publish a magazine and was informed that the backlog of requests stretches back five years!! And the committee that decides meets for two hours every week. How absurd is this?