Author: Amira Al Hussaini

“Shiekh (?) Yousuf al-Ahmad from Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University in Riyadh has shamelessly called for demolishing of the Grand Mosque in Makkah and rebuilding it in a way that prevents women from mingling with men during tawaf and prayers,” reports Saudi Jeans, who links to the video in which he speaks.

“If you are in the creativity business, look no further than Jordan to find your fix of Inspiration. It comes in the truck loads here,” writes Jordanian blogger Qwaider.

“Bashing Islam is Freedom of Speech, Criticizing Israel is a Hate Crime,” is the title of a post by Mohamed Khodr at Palestinian blog Sabbah Report.

Dates are a major agricultural export crop in Saudi Arabia. Crossroads Arabia explains how dates are mated.

“Saudi Arabia makes it complicated for a Saudi male to marry a foreign woman. It’s even harder for a Saudi woman to marry a foreign man,” writes John Burgess at Crossroads Arabia.

‘The local paper, The Peninsula, has just had to issue an apology for a news headline last week which referred to people with Down Syndrome and other genetic disorders as “the ‘lesser people'”‘ writes Marjorie in Qatar.

The Qatar Animal Welfare Society (QAWS) is in urgent need of a tent. “As the temperature is rising daily we are in desperate need to get some kind of structure up over the runs to provide the animals with air conditioning,” writes Chelsea on Qatar Living.

From Saudi Arabia, Tara Umm Omar shares the story of a Saudi female reporter who has decided to leave her country to be with her Canadian husband. “Hassna'a will go to Canada where she is not oppressed in regards to her marriage. Isn't it such a shame that a Muslim country does not accept her and her husband's marriage but a non-Muslim country does?” she writes.

Tara Umm Omar, from Future Husbands and Wives of Saudis, introduces us to Saudi Life – a web portal for Saudi expats and those interested in learning about Saudi Arabia.

On The Arabist, Issandr El Amrani marks the death of Fouad Zakariyya, a leading Egyptian philosopher and sophisticated critic of Islamist thought, in this post.

Mother's Day is celebrated on March 21 across all Arab countries. Nermeena, from Egypt, celebrates early with this post.

A new mobile phone operator is in the market. Bahraini emoodz explains why he is dissatisfied with his current operator and why he won't jump ship.. just not yet.

Bahraini Mahmood Al Yousif took this “really interesting and clashing shot” during the Formula One weekend. Click on the link to check it out.

Algerian American blogger The Moor Next Door takes a closer look at the composition of the Algerian government here.

Jewish blogger Richard Silverstein claims that the Shin Bet has secretly detained a reporter for leaking top-secret memos on targetted assassinations.

The first race of the 2010 Formula One season is over and the dust may have settled on the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir desert but the buzz continues online.

The three-day car racing extravaganza culminated with Ferrari driver Spaniard Fernando Alonso clinching first place, followed by his team mate Brazilian Felipe Massa. Briton's Lewis Hamilton, in a McLaren-Mercedes, came in third position, to the thrill of a Ferrari-supporting crowd.

A tweetphoto by Mahmood Al Yousif from the Bahrain International Circuit

Before the race weekend started, Bahraini blogger @Mahmood Al Yousif complains:

oh, my wife and I are the only people actually PAYING for our tickets, everyone else we know's got a freebie! Last time we'll buy BIC tkts:(

And then he goes on to religiously ‘tweet' the weekend. On the first day, he writes:

BIC are you listening? Ban smoking on stands for goodness sake. We can't breath and it's bloody annoying and filthy.

On the second day of the race, @Mahmood tweets from the stands:

Sitting between 3 ladies fanning themselves and I'm getting the benefit. Is this the life of emperors? Not bad. I like!!

And on Alonso's win, @Mahmood quips:

It's appropriate that the king of Spain is here, he must be very chuffed! Well done Alonso!! Congrats Bahrain too.

Bahrain's own Foreign Affairs Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Mohammed Al Khalifa was also on Twitter, registering his thoughts on the weekend's proceedings.

Earlier today, he posted a tweetphoto showing traffic line ups on the way to the circuit:

Traffic line up to the circuit by Khalid Al Khalifa

He also notes:

On my way to F1 race .. Horrendous traffic towards circuit

And at the end of the race, Shaikh Khalid tweets:

With @richardquest .. Almost falling off the tower at the race ! Congrats to Alonso, Spain and Ferrari http://tweetphoto.com/14383101

Meanwhile, CNN's Richard Quest was also in Bahrain, attending F1 and posts the following tweet at the start of the race:

Race underway. loud. view good, n o idea who is winning without looking at TV #F1 #cnn

Before that, he stumbles upon the King of Spain and…

I was wearing shorts in Royal Tower and had to hide when King of Spain passed by ! Faux Pas indeed.

Bahrain makes it as a Trending Topic on Twitter

And Salman Al Abbasi predicted Alonso's win and tweets:

For the first time my predictions turn right Alonso 1 #Bahrain #F1 😀

As for Internet junkies, the excitement was running high as Bahrain became a trending topic on Twitter. Esra's Al Shafei tweets her excitement:

Amazing, my little country is internationally trending for the first time ever! Take that, Dubai!

She then adds:

Come on #Bahrain I wanna screenshot this country being FIRST on the international trending list (to show my grandkids, duh)

Her excitement is shattered when #Bahrain fell off the list. She explains:

Everyone using #BahrainGP instead of just #Bahrain ruined it for us. We're never gonna beat the mothers now.

Fox News published a story entitled Saudi Bloggers Shatter the Kingdom's Silence and Censorship. The SUSRIS Blog discusses what went wrong.

More than 57,000 fans have so far joined a Facebook group in support of Qatar's bid for the 2022 FIFA World Cup (football).

Exclusive #iraq10 picture from polling station in #Baghdad: www.mict-international.org/1a.jpg

It's election day in Iraq and the Twittersphere has been abuzz with updates since the early morning.

To keep tweeps updated, a special service is up at @iraqelections where “30 correspondents from across Iraq will twitter report on election events from 10am hour by hour as they witness them on the ground.”   

@iraqelections urges readers to:

Follow our coverage of #iraqelections on Sunday, live here on Twitter. 40 Iraqi journalists #tweeting regular election updates!

Another announcement reads:

We're live – translations are on their way! Follows us for live tweets about the #iraqelection from inside #Iraq. Join the debate #iraq10

Updates by observers on the ground are typical of many elections around the world, except that Iraq is a special case. Bombs went off throughout the day and clashes were reported between various factions.

On @iraqelections, the reporters who toyed with Twitter did a fantastic job keeping us updated using social networking tools.

In one update, Laith reports:

From Sulaimaniya, Jamal writes:

#SULAIMANIYA, Jamal: Voting stations are closed. Press is not allowed to enter and monitor the counting of votes. #iraq10

Elsewhere on the Twittersphere, @iawia1 notes:

Today Iraq's having the most democratic election in the region.Hope it holds&be example4mideast #iranelection #iraqelection #iraq

 
American @jeffmeyerson is positive:

Celebrate with freedom-loving Iraqis as today they make their case for democracy. #Iraq

And Miguel Marquez, ABC News' correspondent, sums up the day saying:

#Iraq elex: 38 killed,73 injured. Nearly 40 explosions. Still the Iraqis turned out to vote. Looks like vote cnt will be higher outside BGD