Stories about International Relations from September, 2011
Bermuda: Term Limits Backlash
Vexed Bermoothes says of the government's imposition of work permit term limits: “This – combined with the general pissiness of the PLP towards expatriates and international business – led to a massive exodus from the island”; Politics.bm adds: “Their signature policies have hurt Bermudians. Time to fess up.”
Comoros: Reactions of the Comoran Community to Minister's Accusation
After the French Interior Ministry stated that Comorian Community is to blame for some of the violence in Marseille[fr], the governing body of the Comoros Union is denouncing such stigmatization of their community[fr], it encourages Comoran to stay calm and fight back violence only via legal means.
Korea: Plan to Launch Satellite TV Airing Programs to North Korea
Martyn Williams from North Korea Tech blog posted about a private South Korean group's plan to launch a satellite TV station that will air South Korean dramas and entertainment programs in North Korea. Williams, however, voiced worries that it would be nearly impossible for impoverished North Koreans to afford the satellite...
North Korea’s First Cruise Ship Draw Harsh Reviews
Bearded Wiseman from the 2Oceansvibe site wrote about North Korea's first cruise ship, calling it a ‘bit of a joke’.
Macedonia: Celebrating Basketball Win Over Lithuania
The celebration of the Macedonian entry in the semifinals of the European basketball championship has spilled over from the country's streets, balconies and town squares into the blogosphere. Filip Stojanovski reports.
Honduras: Recent Cables Released by WikiLeaks
‘La Gringa’ from La Gringa's Blogcito summarizes the content found in selected diplomatic cables that were recently released by Wikileaks. The cables “were from 2002-2004, when Larry Palmer was US Ambassador to Honduras, and Ricardo Maduro was president,” she explains.
Palestine: Twitter Debate on the Statehood
Chris Keeler, from Notes from a Medinah, rehashes a Twitter conversation between Blake Hounshell of Foreign Policy, Marc Lynch (Abu Aardvark) of the Middle East Channel and Yousef Munayyer of The Palestine Center on the Palestinian statehood here.
Russia: Prosecutor General Calls For Control Over Social Networks
“You saw what had happened in London. To my mind, it is evident that there should be control over this [social network] activity, and I think it will be a reasonable control, in the interest of protection of the civic liberties,” said Russian Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika at the summit of...
India: Open Letter to The British Parliament On Kashmir
After decades the British Parliament is going to discuss Kashmir tomorrow. Al Haqu Murun writes an open letter to Mr Steve Baker, MP for Wycombe, and the British Parliament asking to increase pressure to Pakistan and India to resolve the Kashmir dispute.
China: WikiLeaks Misreading Leads to Online ‘Spy’ Hunt
The release of unredacted United States (US) diplomatic cables since late August 2011 by WikiLeaks, has resulted in an online witch hunt in China. The word "informant" in the documents was misinterpreted as "Xianren" which usually refers to a "rat" or "spy" who makes a living by selling information.
China: Chinese blaze new paths in Africa
Jing Gao from Ministry of Tofu translated a NetEase story feature on Chinese people working in Africa on Chinese invested construction projects.
Denmark: Turkish Flag on Right-Wing Candidate's “Sharia-Land” Ad
Amila Bosnae re-posts a parliamentary election campaign ad of “a candidate for the xenophobic (and powerful) Danish People’s Party” and explains: “The caption on top reads ‘Sharia-land or Sjælland?’ – Sjælland is Zealand, the big island in the eastern part of Denmark with the capital Copenhagen. For some reason they...
Egypt: Turkey's Response to Kurds Questioned as Erdogan Speaks in Cairo
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's speech about the Palestinian bid for a statehood at the Arab League was translated online live by members of social networking sites, namely Twitter, for those who did not speak Arabic or Turkish. Ruwayda Mustafah reports.
China: Now With America's Attention Back
Not all netizens took this past weekend—a holiday in China—as a chance to confess a feeling of shame at things they said upon learning of the attacks on the United States ten years ago, but many did. Writer Yang Hengjun, who has written New York and the USA into his novels, shares something similar.
Korea: WikiLeaks Reveals More on South Korean Policy, Rather than North Korean Realities
Leon V. Sigal from 38 North site posted an interesting analysis on the WikiLeaks cable traffic between Seoul and Washington. The author stressed that the cables shed less light on North Korea than they do on South Korea’s policy toward the North.
North Korea: Inside the House of Upper-class North Koreans
A net user ID:CheeseNoodle posted photos of a North Korean house in South Korean citizen journalist website, Wiki Tree. The house, which belongs to upper-class people, is equipped with a flat-screen TV, electric devices and just like any other households, portraits of Kim Jong-il and Kim Il-sung in one corner.
Ukraine: Update on Tymoshenko's Trial
Foreign Notes posts an update on Yulia Tymoshenko's trial, which has been halted for two weeks.
Haiti: Waste Management by Troops
mediahacker looks at the issue of UN troops and waste management in Haiti, asking, tongue firmly in cheek, “Does this only become a big deal if it causes an outbreak of deadly disease? Or is living with swarms of mosquitoes and an overpowering stench in the area an acceptable level...
Barbados: Pirating Scandal via Wikileaks
Barbados Free Press draws attention to another Wikileaks cable which suggests that two years prior to a police sergeant being “arrested and charged with taking bribes to allow a counterfeit DVD ‘pirate’ to operate, a US Embassy cable lamented the fact that he and the Barbados Police were unsuccessful in...
Ukraine, Russia: “A New Stage in the Gas War”
David Marples of Current Politics in Ukraine analyzes the current stage of the Russian-Ukrainian “gas war.”
Bangladesh, India: Hasina-Manmahon Summit – A Post-dated Review
Kh. A. Saleque posts a review of the recent summit of the Prime Ministers of India and Bangladesh and its impact on the bilateral ties between both the countries.