· April, 2007

Stories about Freedom of Speech from April, 2007

Ukraine: Opposition Rally

Ukrainiana posts pictures from a recent opposition rally in Kyiv and writes: “As the rally drew to a close, it started raining lightly. A group of opposition supporters headed for...

30 April 2007

Russia: More on Mstislav Rostropovich

Another personal reflection on Mstislav Rostropovich, written by an anonymous contributor to Robert Amsterdam's blog – “who as a young musician had the distinct honor of personally meeting the great...

30 April 2007

Arabeyes: On Selling a Palestinian Kidney and Changing the Israeli Flag

Do you want to know why a Palestinian wants to sell his kidney, or what had happened to the bicycle of a Lebanese blogger on September 10, 2001? What is more difficult: returning home after living abroad for five years or demanding that Israel changes its flag just as the Kurds want to change the Iraqi flag? And last but not least: why does Ala'a Abdulfattah - the Godfather of Egyptian bloggers - say he isn't and was never a blogger? To know more, read on.

30 April 2007

Serbia: Blogosphere Reacts to Protect Press Freedom

Two hand grenades were placed on a window sill of Serbian journalist Dejan Anastasijevic's apartment on Saturday, April 15. The explosions caused material damage but no injuries. There were numerous comments about who might have stood behind the attack. Bloggers started a petition requesting prompt reaction of the police for the sake of press freedom.

30 April 2007

China: Prison Break

Joel Martinsen from DANWEI has translated a BBS post, Musings on the Chinese version of Prison Break, which addressed the question: how would a Chinese Prison Break be adapted so...

30 April 2007

Kuwait: When Our Only Tourist Attraction is a Shopping Mall

With the summer temperatures soaring, life in Kuwait revolves around air-conditioned shopping malls, reports Abdullatif Al Omar. Follow the arrows to read bloggers' reactions to why else a foreign head of state is treated to a visit to a mall; friends meet in malls and a boat show is held there.

29 April 2007

Egypt: Freedom of Speech Campaign

Egyptian blogger Nora Younis wonders why free speech ends people in prison in her country as she spearheads a campaign for freedom of speech. “Egyptian pro-democracy activists and bloggers are...

28 April 2007

Kurdistance: A Week Like Any Other

The news coming out of the Kurdish blogs this week is as varied as the landscape of Kurdistan itself. From predictions on Syrian Kurd alliances with Israel, to censorship in Turkey; from explorations of Northern Iraq, to essays on intolerance, the Kurdish bloggers cover it all. But for this week, I think we will begin with why, to Kurds, April is considered as the "Bride of the Year".

27 April 2007

Russia: Media Freedom

There're 32 comments to Sean Guillory's post on a Russian radio station that seems to have become “exactly” like Fox News in the U.S.

26 April 2007

Syrian Independence Day and Elections

Syria celebrated it's independence and Parliamentary elections with a lot of official fanfare, but very little excitement from bloggers as a reported two per cent of the constituents turned up at the polling stations. Yazan Badran sums up the reactions as bloggers debate the results and updates us about the jailing of a prominent human rights lawyer.

26 April 2007

Taiwan: Youtube Censors anti WTO Protest Video

Blasts found out (zh) that Youtube has categorized an anti-WTO protest documentary as not suitable for viewers under 18: “This video may contain content that is inappropriate for some users,...

26 April 2007