The Initiative For an Open Arab Internet: “Technical problems and social blockade suffered by internet users in Saudi Arabia has not prevent users from blogging and forming groups to write about daily life in Saudi Arabia. Some of these blogs engage in debate about the future of Saudi society.”

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Your results:
You are Spider-Man

You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility.

Spider-Man (70%), Superman (65%), Hulk (45%), Supergirl (43%), Robin (37%), Catwoman (35%), Batman (35%), The Flash (30%), Green Lantern (25%), Wonder Woman (18%), Iron Man (15%).

Click here to take the “Which Superhero am I?” quiz…

Few days ago I was watching Inside Story on Al Jazeera English, and one of the guests on the show was Baria Alamuddin, foreign editor of Al Hayat. This sounds normal, or at least it should, except that Alamuddin was speaking from Riyadh. It is no secret that Al Jazeera and the Saudi government are not friends. They have been banned from working inside the country for a long time, and some of their Arab employees say they are not allowed to enter the Kingdom even when they come on their own. I’m a little bit puzzled over this: are Al Jazeera no longer banned from working here, or is it just for the English channel while its Arabic sister is still banned?

Our current legal system needs serious revision, and stories like this are more than enough indication. As usual, it seems as if we take one step forward, and then undo it by taking ten steps backward.

Keef Al Hal, the first Saudi full-feature movie is now available on Google Video. On a related note, LBC have announced that they will run the movie on New Year’s Eve at 1800 GMT.

Faiza Ambah profiles Saudi human rights lawyer Abdul-Rahman al-Lahem who contends that the religious police oppress people in the name of religion and act as if the law doesn’t apply to them. He wants to prove them wrong.