Stories about Governance from February, 2008
Russia: Lev Ponomarev; Solovetskiy Stone
Robert Amsterdam reports on an investigation launched against human rights activist Lev Ponomarev, who has been “accused of committing slander against the Russian Federation, and is currently being prevented from leaving the country.” Also, Amsterdam writes about the Solovetskiy Stone memorial and the authorities’ plans to remove it from Lubyanka...
Russia, U.S.: The New York Times’ Russian LJ
Lyndon of Scraps of Moscow provides a comprehensive review of the New York Times‘ Russian-language LJ community, a platform for a “translator-assisted online dialog” between Russian bloggers and the newspaper's regular readers and its Moscow bureau staff: “a very interesting and creative step, with the potential to realize the full...
Paraguay: Yellow Fever Scare Causing Long Lines
Cases of Yellow Fever have been confirmed in Paraguay, which has caused at least 8 confirmed deaths. This situation is generating a mass panic among the population and long lines are observed in front of health institutions. However, not everybody is so lucky to get vaccinated since there are not enough vaccines left. Here is what some bloggers are saying about the Yellow Fever scare in Paraguay:
Serbia: Anglophone Bloggers on Belgrade Rally, Riots, Kosovo
Below is a selection of the English-language posts about last week's events in Serbia and Kosovo, which appeared on Feb. 21-23.
East Timor: Would it be possible to hold elections earlier?
FORUM HAKSESUK [pt] posted an analysis by António Ramos Naikoli on the chances of achieving an early election in East Timor, a possibility considered by the country's largest opposition party, FRETILIN, in the face of the assassination attempts on the two Timor leaders.
Brazil: Human rights groups united against extermination groups
Vera Mattos [pt] publishes a statement by various human right groups denouncing the work of extermination groups, protesting against the ineffective public security and demanding that the authorities investigate the execution of young, poor black people resident of the outskirts of Salvador, capital of Bahia, Brazil.
Mozambique: Demanding un update on the children trafficking case
Luis David [pt] demands an update on the situation of the 40 children found in a truck intercepted by police in Inchope, reported back in January. The children were supposedly being taken to schools to study the Koran, with their parents consent. “And that casts doubt on whether it was...
Morocco: No Justice for Fouad Mourtada
Is creating a Facebook profile of a famous entity a crime? Although it's been done to nearly every major celebrity (a quick search for "George W. Bush" garners over 500 results), but when Fouad Mourtada chose to mimic Prince Moulay Rachid of Morocco, he was committing a serious crime.
Iran:Governor of Basra accused Iran of plotting his assassination
We read in Juan Cole’s blog that Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that the governor of Basra, Muhammad Misbah al-Wa'ili, has charged the Iranian deputy consul in that city of plotting his, al-Wa'ili's, assassination. He demanded that the central government look into the charges.Watch video too.
Cuba: More Reactions to Castro's Retirement
Four days after Fidel Castro announced that he would not accept another term as a president after almost half a century in power, the Cuban blogosphere continues to be abuzz with the news. Adding to Janine Mendes-Franco's roundup collecting the first reactions after the announcement, here are more reactions from Cuba and abroad.
Iran:Resistance against security forces in Tehran
Several bloggers including Schrr have reported[Fa] that today in Sadeghyeh in Tehran,while security forces wanted to arrest a young girl,many people came to help her.Here is a video film about this event where people chanted “we do not want Islamic State”.
Iran:UN report on Iranian nuclear activity
Negarakha says[Fa] a UN report on Iranian nuclear activity just got announced and we don't know that we should be happy or sad. The blogger says while Iranian government celebrates,western countries say the report proves new sanctions should be imposed on Iran.Read about report here.
East Timor: Salsinha admits attacking Xanana Gusmão
According to Timor Online [pt], Gastão Salsinha, who replaced Alfredo Reinado as the rebels’ leader after he was killed during the attacks on the East Timor's top leaders, has admitted having opened fire against Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão but said they did not intend to kill him. “So the theory...
Brazil: Protesting against public corruption
Blog do Tchôla [pt] has a video and pictures from a massive popular protest on the streets of Maceió, capital of one of Brazil's poorest states. The protest was against the public corruption that has led to R$ 200 million (around US$ 114 million) losses caused by unauthorized, irregular, and...
Serbia: Bloggers Discuss Rally and Rioting in Belgrade
Yesterday, Kosovo is Serbia rally was held in Belgrade. According to unofficial sources, 150,000-200,000 people attended it to protest against unilateral proclamation of independence of Kosovo. The rally went peacefully but was followed by rioting. Buildings of the American, Croatian and Turkish embassies were set on fire. Many people were injured, at least one person was killed. Sinisa Boljanovic translates reactions by several Serbian bloggers who blog at B92's blog portal.
China: Wen Jiabao's neighbors forcefully evicted
Since his blogging tour by bike through some of the poorest areas in China, veteran Beijing blogger Laohu “Tiger Temple” Miao has over the past two months taken on the part-time job of social worker for a group of homeless and destitute senior citizens living behind a temporary roadside wall just opposite Tiananmen Square, collecting donations and organizing clothing and food drives through his blog, 24 Hours Online, and through this inspiring similar actions [zh] in other cities.
Iran:Three workers were whipped
According to [Fa] several bloggers including Salam Democrat,three workes who had been arrested last year for participating in May Day( Workers’ Day) ceremonies,were whipped in city of Sanandaj in Kurdistan.The blogger says we are all workers ,whip us all!
Hindi: No smoking and Cricket Auctions
Amit Gupta takes us on a tour of the latest from the Hindi blogosphere, including bad news for male smokers, good news for cricket fans in Hyderabad, and hopeful news regarding the effort to curb the spread of AIDS.
Ukraine: Fancy Cars
Foreign Notes writes on how Ukrainian officials’ fancy cars don't really belong to them.
Serbia: Political Unrest, Now and 17 Years Ago
Anegdote watched the rioting in Belgrade from his balcony and wrote about how history seems to be repeating itself: “Many people were injured in Belgrade today, and one person died. But that feels like nothing compared to knowing that lunatics are once again politicians and that people are capable of...
Serbia: “People's Protests”
Hugh Griffiths writes on his B92 blog about the history of the “so-called ‘people’s protests'” in Serbia – “which are in actual fact not organised by the people themselves, but by those working in state institutions.”
