Stories about Governance from May, 2007
Bulgaria: George Michael For Tripoli Six
Eternal Remont reports that George Michael has joined the “You Are Not Alone” campaign to raise awareness of the Tripoli Six, “the six Bulgarian nurses who await death by firing squad in Libya.”
Iran:A more divided country
Digital Kalashinkov,blogger and journalist, says[Fa] Iranian society becomes more fragmented everyday.The blogger writes there is a growing gap between elites and masses.He adds religion and nationalism can not anymore bring together the majority of people. He says country becomes divided based on ethnicity.
Benin: New government rumored to be considering a Ministry of Religion
Babilown points to an article in Le Matin (Fr) about rumors that Benin's government plans to create a Ministry of Religion, and outlines the potential of such a ministry to erode the constitutional separation of church and state (Fr). In a comment, T. Nouatin agrees that although a Ministry of...
Iran:Ultra Conservative Ayathollah Goes to Waterloo
Ultra conservative Ayatollah Messbah Yazdi is invited to the Waterloo university by the Mennonites.A petition has been launched to protest about this invitation.”We're not against dialogue but the Mennonites[Waterloo University] are naive if they think they can open one with these people,” says Haideh Moghissi, a York University sociologist who...
New Book Examines Causes of the D.R. of Congo's Political Instability
Congopage offers a brief review of a new book by Gilbert Dzassabi, a lieutenant-colonel of the Congolese Air Force (Congo-Brazzaville) who studied in Russia and later in France, where he earned a Ph.D in political science. Dzassabi tries to explain why his country's troubled neighbor, the Democratic Republic of the...
Syria: Presidential Referendum and Lebanon Clashes
Today, Syria is reelecting president Bashar Assad for a new seven-year term in office. The process is done through a referendum, which means there will be no other challengers. The referendum paper has a green circle that says "Yes" and a gray one that says "No". The result is expected to be 99.xx% in favour of the president - as is the tradition in Syria for the last 37 years. Yazan Badran sums up the reactions of Syrian bloggers here.
Ukraine: Politics Overdose
Ukraine is going through a highly complicated political conflict right now, and its outcome is yet to be seen. But one thing seems clear: many Ukrainians, on whose behalf the politicians involved in the current feud claim to be acting, suffer from politics overdose (and from unusually hot weather). Below is the translation of what two Ukrainian journalists think about Ukraine's political and climatic heat.
Iran: A Bloody Face Symbolizes the Violent Repression of Women
On Sunday a young woman in Tehran became the latest victim of the crackdown. Citizen reporters captured photographs of her bloodied face which were subsequently published on many Iranian weblogs. According to some reports she was filming the police crackdown on women when she was attacked herself by police. Some eyewitnesses say the police wanted to push her into their car because of how she was dressed and she resisted.
Iran:Several photos from police action against “criminals”
Almozakhraf has published several photos of “criminals” who have been beaten up by police.Several bloggers considered police violence inacceptable.
Singapore's Myanmarese Go Online for Double Taxation Petition
Myanmar residents abroad have to pay an additional tax to the Myanmar government in addition to the tax they pay in their host countries. Failure to pay this this tax results in Myanmar embassy denying them consular services. Myanmarese residents in Singapore are using their blogs and other online means to get support for a petition to avoid this double taxation.
Estonia: Part of Nordic Community
Itching for Eestimaa writes about Estonia's relations with its Nordic neighbors: “Estonia is too small and too far for serious investment when dollars and pounds can flow into larger, closer markets like Poland, Hungary, or the Czech Republic. For the Finns, Swedes, and to a lesser extent the Danes and...
Poland: Ryanair Case
The Polish government doesn't like to be made fun of: the latest case involves Ryanair, the beatroot reports.
Serbia: 50 Human Rights Tasks
Belgrade 2.0 comments on Goran Miletic's “fifty human rights tasks that new government should do.”
Ukraine: “Turbulent Day”
Pictures from Abdymok: two Ukrainian riot policemen preparing lunch, the Prosecutor General's office, and people gathered for yet another rally at a Kyiv park. Foreign Notes writes about a “turbulent day” for Ukrainian politicians.
Afghan Whispers:Refugees,War Lords and Orphanages
Several Afghan bloggers have discussed Iranian government’s decision to expel Afghan refugees to Afghanistan. Some of these refugees have lived in Iran for years. Marine Gustavson, from Parsa NGO shows in our photo.You can see more photos here. Afghanistan's government called the consequences of sending back thousands of people to...
Brazil: New Round on the National Internet Policy Debate
There are not many issues in Brazil where you are able to find unanimity. But when you talk about messing with Internet freedoms, the defenders spring up from radically different locations in the political spectrum. That's what we are seeing again this week as Sen. Eduardo Azeredo, the protagonist of...
Bangladesh: No under-30 maids to the Gulf
a bengali in TO points to a recent move in India banning women under 30 to work as maids in the Gulf. “Renuka Chowdhury, the Indian minister of women and child development, has called for a ban on women under 30 to work as maids in the Gulf in a...
Zambia: corruption wars
Cho discusses corruption wars in Zambia: “I have watched with some amazement at the recent flurry of discussions on corruption following the London judgement on our ex President FTJ. The issue has been much debated on every Zambian blog, forum and newspaper. As always these discussions have been led from...
Sri Lanka: S. Bose(1975 – 2007), Poet, Editor & Writer
The following poem was written by S. Bose, a writer-poet (Tamil) from Vavuniya, Sri Lanka and was translated by a friend of mine for Global Voices Online readers. Chandrabose Sudhakar or S.Bose was shot dead by armed men in his own home on April 16th, 2007. The killers who spoke...
Trinidad & Tobago: News Roundup
In reviewing the top news stories of the week, Trinidadian blogger Jonathan Ali finds a recurring theme – forgiveness.
Suriname, Barbados: CARICOM Failing Caribbean People
As Suriname announces plans for the construction of a nuclear power facility, Barbados Underground writes, “This affair epitomizes the ineffective organ we call Caricom.”
