Outlawing SLRs - the good use of freedom in Kuwait

Photographing in the Muslim world has always been a royal pain in the neck, but new extremes are coming: Kuwait has banned the use of DSLRs cameras in public, according to local media.

The English-language Kuwait Times says the country’s Ministry of Information, Ministry of Social Affairs and Ministry of Finance have ruled photography with digital reflex cameras should be done only by accredited journalists. There is currently no official confirmation of the decision, why it has been introduced or detail about how precise a definition of the term 'DSLR' will be applied.

History has proved that Iraq would be better under Saddam Hussein, maybe Saddam would also be better for Kuwait?

map of Iraq including Kuwait as a province

Ben Ali wins again

Ben Ali and wife - voting

The incumbent president of Tunisia, Ben Ali, got a ticket for another five-year term. The elderly statesman presides over a corrupt system run by himself, his close relatives and a loyal clique of cronies.

Again the election was rigged in Ben Alis favour. Any legitimacy that he could have claimed stemming from the 1987 coup d'état that deposed President Habib Bourguiba is long gone.

His grip to power is only possible thanks to the uber-present security apparatus, in particular to the feared General Directorate of Public Security. Ali's grip on the media and the economy should also be taken into account. No paragraph gets published without censorship approval. No deal is made without the presidential blessing, and obviously a cut for the Ali clan. But further to this, Ali´s power rests on a largely indifferent populace and absent intelligentsia,  for which daily human rights abuses seem to be of no consequence.

Maybe it is all for the best: Tunisia knows only dictatorship and Islam. If Ali's falls, what are the chances democracy will be on the menu?