· March, 2007

Stories about Governance from March, 2007

Turkey is Typing….the Weekly Favorites

So rather than stay with one particular topic or theme in this weekly, I thought that I would just give you the insights into my top Turkish blog posts of this week. Let's begin with my favorite short post of the week from Ignore Me if You Can: I’m going...

China: 500 days

  27 March 2007

In less than 500 days, Beijing Olympic will begin. Wang Xiaofeng has some wild thoughts (zh) about the Beijing city: 1. half of the population will leave the city to give space to foreigners; 2. the city will become very clean with a mixture of real and plastic flowers; 3....

Honduras: World Water Day

  27 March 2007

“March 22, 2007 was World Water Day. And guess what? Sunday we had no water! How ironic. Or how prescient.” So begins La Gringa's reflections on water resources in rural Honduras.

Russia: Putin's Article in the Times

  27 March 2007

Very Russian Tochka Net thinks Vladimir Putin should stop writing articles for publication in the West: “Confused, placatory stuff whose only effect is to make a bunch of smart-arses think we’re trying to suck up to them. At least this time he didn’t say we’re European.”

Russia: Variations of Dissent

  27 March 2007

After reading LJ user rudin‘s report (RUS) from the Dissenters’ March that took place in Nizhniy Novgorod this past Saturday, LJ user an_drevv made this ironic remark (RUS): Judging by the ratio between the participants [police outnumbered the protesters], it looks like the majority of the dissenters were cops, and...

Egypt: HRW Slams Egypt

Egyptian-based blogger Issandr El Amarani links to an article in which Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticises Egypt for its heavy-handedness in dealing with protesters demonstrating against amendments to the constitution. The changes, said HRW, “effectively remove basic protections against violations of Egyptians’ rights to privacy, individual freedom, security of person...

Nepal: Gaur Massacre

  27 March 2007

The unthinkable happened on March 21 in Gaur in the central Terai plains. Two political groups clashed, and violence followed. 29 were dead, more than 40 injured. This incident has shaken Nepal. Democracy For Nepal condemns the violence but it also takes the Maoists to task for disrupting the MPRF...

Zimbabwe: living under a dictatorship

  27 March 2007

Zimpundit on life in Zimbabwe, “In Zimbabwe, a nation dominated by government owned media, keeping up with the political realities is an impossible and risky undertaking. Media in Zimbabwe is dominated by a state owned daily newspaper, and state owned radio and television. All reports carried by state media are...

Russia: User Guide

  26 March 2007

This has been an eventful weekend, rally-wise. In Minsk, Belarus, water cannons had to be used against several thousand citizens opposed to Aleksandr Lukashenko‘s regime. In Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia, it took some 20,000 police and military personnel to prevent yet another “Dissenters’ March” from happening. In Moscow, however, 3,000 riot...

Egypt: Arrested Activists and Bloggers Released in the Desert

Bloggers Roam the Desert Egypt today released bloggers and other activists arrested in an anti-Mubarak rally in Cairo held the previous day in the desert, according to bloggers. Blogger and journalist Hossam El Hamalawy, who has been closely following the developments, writes: Police released the remaining Kefaya activists in custody...

Iran:Sanctions and reactions

Kamangir informs us about a piece titled “ten points about Resolution 1747 ” published on Alef,a right-wing site.According to this piece:”While it had no effect on this resolution it might be effective in the future. Although, the pressure has not had any effect on the daily life of Iranians, and...

Belarus: A Roundup

  26 March 2007

TOL's Belarus Blog covers these subjects: silly pretexts used to arrest opposition activists; the Constitution Day; Belarusian “market socialism“; some of the effects of the recent “gas war” with Russia.

The Balkans: War Criminals Abroad

  26 March 2007

Neretva River writes about five war criminals living abroad; Bosnia Vault writes about the one who had just been spared extradition by a British judge: “How much time needs to pass before a crime is no longer worthy of being dealt with in a court of law? In other words,...

India: Nandigram, it could get worse

  26 March 2007

Even as the media appears to be forgetting about Nandigram, SacredMedia Cow has a post by a journalist who says that the real carnage is yet to come. “Though the report is yet to be made public, CBI sources very clearly detail out the following – a. police did not...

China: Nail House Disappeared From Internet

  25 March 2007

Huge reported that the news about Nail House from Chongqing had disappeared from the Internet in China within two hours: people just wanted to criticize developers, now that the Internet police stepped in, people would scold the government… (zh)

Egypt: Bloggers Among Egyptian Demo Detainees

It is happening all over again..and may recur in a bigger way tomorrow (Monday March 26) as more Egyptians are threatening to take to the streets in protest against proposed amendments to the Constitution. Incidentally, a referendum on the amendments which are to be implemented tomorrow, which aim to –...