April Fools?

But only one joke from me today, my favourite April Fools today is from Dagens Nyheter "Hammarbybacken goes Ski Dubai", about how our local ski slope in my family's Stockholm suburb is to be covered with a glass roof to make sure the skiing season runs from September to May every year! For us living in the Gulf it is only tooo close to reality which makes it all even more hilarious!!!

Other, sadder new from recent weeks is this article from Svenska Dagbladet on honour violence in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Sweden's influx of Iraqi's is seen here by the BBC. Facts here have prompted a lot of debate at home.

And Newroz meant clashes in southeast Turkey again... A liberal op-ed in Expressen today points out Turkey's tender political points!

Another topic much recently discussed is of the controversial film (here from the BBC) on islam by Dutch Geert Wilders, later published and removed and/or altered or whatever. I wish the discussion could be lead in such a way that the benefits of freedoms where more obvious to those not already convinced was made more clear...

Thos story on a women's shelter in Dubai also merits some attention.

And the Swedish Crown Princess visited the UAE!

BBC has followed Emirati troops peacekeeping in Afghanistan!

The sorry state of education in Egypt is explored here by the BBC.

ICG published reports on Azerbaijan and on Gaza under Hamas.

A view also from the BBC on Basra.

A Swedish journalist has written a book on Gaza in the years 2005-2007, the despair but also the lost hope for real life personal interaction with Israel, where Gazans were the first Arabs to achieve that - review from Aftonbladet.

More discussion on a state-controlled Swedish imam-education. I am sceptical to the concept as such, but this one has quite decent arguments.

And finally a Turkish travel glimpse, from Trabzon, in Today's Zaman.