Asharq Al-Awsat have published a column by Mona Eltahawy today. It’s been more than a month since they published anything by her, and they have not provided any explanation for the long absence. So much for professionalism. I made a mistake, that column was by Amira Eltahawy, not Mona Eltahawy. Apologies.

The Comittee to Protect Journalists have issued their report on press freedoms in Saudi Arabia. The report concludes that Saudi Arabia has loosened press shackles, but religion and politics are still perilous topics. The report is worth reading, and if you feel like laughing then check out what Saleh Namlah, an official in the ministry of information has to say. “If children fight with each other, you say go to your room. To the writer you say please do not write. It’s a way of calming things,” he said. Can we understand from this that our respected ministry deals with writers and journalists as children? How about bloggers? Oh, they are just infants, you don’t need to worry about them.

I was reading Asharq Al-Awsat this morning and found a photo of yours truly on their media section, where they have a special feature on blogging from three countries: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Egypt. Blogging in Saudi Arabia has been attracting a lot of mainstream media attention lately, but I have to say that this piece by Shaker Abu Talib is the worst coverage so far. Very poor reporting with a clear lack of focus. The reporter did not even bother to contact any of the bloggers, and instead he copied small parts of some old posts by the likes of Mashi 97 and Abu-Jouri. It is ironic how guys like Asharq Al-Awsat keep on talking about professionalism and absence of standards in blogging while they are not able to produce a small piece of decent reporting on a subject like this, where sources are easily available and can be reached with a click of a mouse.

Tariq Al Homayed, editor-in-chief of Asharq Al-Awsat, responds to Mona Eltahawy article in the IHT. It is a lenghy respnse by Al Homayed to defend his newspaper, where he accuses Eltahawy of lying. He also says Asharq Al-Awsat’s professionalism is more than IHT’s prfoessionalism, which, looking to the state of Arab media that the former is a part of, is hard to believe. However, despite the lengh of the response, Al Homayed failed to tell us why Eltahawy columns don’t appear anymore in the paper.

My right hand hurts so bad I hardly can type. If that, and my mother’s constant nagging are any indication, I guess I’m spending too much time online. I could try to mouse goofy as Meg Hourihan suggests, but I think I will take a couple days off(line). Maybe I’ll go out to breath some fresh air, meet some friends, and read a book or two. Later.

Just some random thoughts on the match. Not bad at all for the Saudi team. A 1-0 defeat on the hands of Spain’s bench is not what we were exactly looking for, but the performance is far better than that we have seen against Ukraine. Keep in mind Spain’s bench includes the likes of Raul, Reyes, Joaquin, Fabregas, and Canizares. The Spaniards, already qualified to the second stage, prepared themselves for an easier match, and did not expect this resistance by Saudis. Unlucky for the Sons of Desert, the solid midfielder Khalid Aziz, one of the best Saudi players in the tournament, had to leave the pitch after he was injured early in the first half.

Once again, the Saudi defence failed to deal properly with set-pieces, and lack of coordination between central backs and the goalkeeper continued in this match, but the performance of the keeper has notably improved. I think that our counter attacks could have been more efficient if we had Malek Mo’ath instead of Sa’ad Al Harthi up front in the first half, because the former is much faster and more aggressive.

Luis Aragones wanted to take more control of the match, so he brought in David Villa, Xavi, and Fernando Torres, but that was not enough to give him the effect he was looking for as the Saudis have become more confidant and started to push forward. They had some good chances, but could not make a serious threat against an experienced and solid Spanish defence. No comment on the referee.

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