· December, 2007

Stories about Humanitarian Response from December, 2007

Russia: Holiday Charity (via Egoism)

  29 December 2007

Russia is embarking on a 10-day national vacation: from Dec. 30 to Jan. 8, the country will be celebrating the New Year's and Orthodox Christmas - and should also have enough time to rest, relax and sober up in between. Charity isn't among the most popular subjects in the Russian blogosphere during the festive season, although some bloggers do discuss ways of helping the poor and needy this year. Below is one blogger's musings on charity and selfishness, as well as a perfectly explicit call to action.

Colombia: Letter to Emmanuel

  28 December 2007

Bogotá Subterranea [es] writes an open letter to four-year old Emmanuel, the son of FARC captive Clara Rojas, who is reportedly due to be set free soon.

Egypt: Rama Yade

  25 December 2007

Rama Yade, France's Secretary of State, has inspired Egyptian blogger Eastern Bird to write the following post, which Tarek Amr translates from Arabic.

Cambodia: Monks Stopped From Petitioning

  20 December 2007

Bloggers outside and inside Cambodia are discussing the violent dispersal of monks who wanted to petition Vietnamese Embassy in Phnom Penh for unfair detainment of a Cambodian monk and Vietnam's absorption of Cambodian territory in the past. Read on for background to the incident and links to the blogs talking about the issue.

China: Sobbing without tears

  19 December 2007

A land thirsty for water is calling for help. How many more villages would die out due to the drought? How much more land would be eroded, even buried by sand?

China: Top “Jokes”

  19 December 2007

ESWN translated a post in Tianya which composed some top “jokes” in China in 2007: These ‘jokes’ are not funny at all; in fact, they are solemn and dismal.

China: Youth Died in Police Station

  19 December 2007

A eleven years old boy was found dead in a police station in Kaifeng City. He was detained by the police for 8 days for stealing 13 bicycles. His parent found bruises and cigarette burning marks on the dead body. Liu Xiaoyuan pointed out that, whenever criminal suspects were found...

Iraq: In Memoriam, Ali Shafeya Al-Moussawi

  18 December 2007

It is with great sadness that I report the death of an Iraqi blogger. Ali Shafeya Al-Moussawi was a contributor to the video blog, Alive in Baghdad. He was killed while at home, during a raid by the Iraqi National Guard in his street. Ali took 31 bullets between the chest and head and died immediately. Ali was not the only victim of that raid. Hussain, his neighbour, was found dead. Salam Adil sums up the reactions to the tragedy in this post.