"A poet and a blogger were among 10 people arrested in Oman in the past two weeks in what one source said was a police crackdown on dissent amid rising discontent in the small US ally sitting near key Gulf shipping routes. Activists said on Saturday that six people arrested on Friday night included blogger Hassan Rukaishi, authors Hammoud Al Rashedi and Nabhan Al Hanashi and poet Hamad Al Kharusi." (thanks Laleh)