Iran: Ahmadinejad's Speech at Columbia University

Iranian President,Mahmoud Ahmadineajd’s speech at Columbia University in New York and university president Lee C. Bollinger’s criticism and tough words during his introduction remarks on Monday 24 September have become a hot topic in media throughout the world. Several Iranian and American bloggers have reacted to the incident. NikAhang Kosar,a...

Nepal: Protests and Indian Idol

A controversy erupts as an Indian RJ makes derogatory remarks about the Indian Idol winner who is of Nepali origin. United We Blog! has insight and perspective.

Iran Invites Bush to Speak

Desert Peace from Israel links to a news article in which Iran invites President Bush to speak at an Iranian university.

Bahrain: A President Visits

Bahrain-based blogger Bint Battuta shares with us a new blog, set up to cover President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Columbia University earlier this week, created by its Graduate School of Journalism students.

China: Chinese Government's Role In Myanmar

Bonnae from 1510.com comments that the recent crisis in Myanmar has put Beijing in an embarrassed position as there will be more international pressure to China on the one hand, on the other hand, there is some economic interest between China and Myanmar, for example, there is a planned oil...

China: Bloggers side with Burmese monks

Chinese government talk of non-intervention in the violent crushing of democracy protests this week in the Myanmar capital Yangon hasn't resonated much with a number of high-profile Chinese bloggers, with several taking the risk of openly joining the Red Shirt for Burma campaign and calling for their readers to do the same.

Philippines: Corruption scandal reaches the presidential palace

A $330 million national broadband network deal between the Philippine government and ZTE firm from China. Critics describe the contract as overpriced, unnecessary and disadvantageous to the Philippines. Tales of bribery, corruption and harassment have surfaced which could implicate the First Family.

Moldova: Transnistria 2

Douglas Muir of A Fistful of Euros posts the second installment on Transnistria.

Ukraine: Unresolved Cases

Mark MacKinnon writes about two unresolved cases that don't do any good to president Yushchenko's image at home and abroad: the 2000 murder of journalist Georgiy Gongadze and Yushchenko's 2004 poisoning.

South Korea: Dokdo's Logo

mins0306 from Marmot's Hole report that Dokdo's Logo in the Korean Internet sites has made Chinese government unhappy. Dokdo is an island in North East Asia and its sovereignty is still in dispute.

Iran:Che Guevara's children visited Iran

Amin Taghikhani says that Che Guevara's two children came to Iran and met with Iranian officials last week.The blogger writes[Fa] “do Che Guevara's children know that thousands of Marxists have been executed by Islamic Republic!”

Ukraine, the EU: Neighbors vs Members

Orange Ukraine writes: “Ukrainians are dealing with the difference between being a member of the EU and being an EU neighbor and they don't like it.”

India, Burma: No Comment

Sepia Mutiny on India being rather quiet on the issue of the pro-democracy protests in Burma.

Blogger Tobias Harris, a keen observer of politics in Japan, adds some interesting analysis of the transition from the Abe to Fukuda cabinets. He looks at the return of factional politics in the ruling LDP, and finds that Fukuda has made some keen decisions in his first day in power.

Moldova: Transnistria Photos

Scraps of Moscow links to a photo project devoted to Transnistria and writes about the problem of “passportization” of the Transnistrian population.

Moldova: Resource on Transnistria

Scraps of Moscow links to a resource on Transnistria.

Russia: Kasparov; “The Italian”

The Accidental Russophile comments on the New Yorker 12-page piece on Garry Kasparov, and writes about The Italian, a Russian movie by director Andrei Kravchuk.

Sudan: The future of the “African solution”

The African Dove discusses the “African solution”: Africa, following the times of colonization, has fostered an attitude of “African solutions to solve African problems”. After years of severe oppression and domination by western countries, the last thing newly independent African countries wanted was more westerners meddling in their domestic issues.

East Asia: Military Threat

James from Japan Probe posts a survey conducted by GlobalTalk 21 on Chinese, Japanese and South Korean people's imagination of the source of military threat.

The Baltics: Unity Day; Latgallia

Marginalia writes about Latgallia, and the history and politics of the Baltic Unity Day, marked on Sept. 22.

Iran:Ahmadinejad at Columbia

Sepdieh Saremi in Parsarts writes “are you in New York? Go up to Columbia to see the madness as Ahmadinejad is giving a speech there today.”