· June, 2007

Stories about Law from June, 2007

Bahrain: The Tale of a ‘Legal Slave’

No longer a tax haven, people in Bahrain are fuming at the introduction of a one per cent tax to benefit an Unemployment Fund. Bloggers caught on the bug and are ranting and fuming on their blogs in this report by Ayesha Saldanha. In other related matters, bloggers talk about a new law which bans workers from working between noon and 4pm in the summer heat, lavish weddings and the forgotten 'martyrs' of the civil unrest which rocked Bahrain in the 90s.

Grenada: Three of “13” Set Free

  29 June 2007

Notes From The Margin is appalled that three of the Grenada 13 who executed former Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and members of his Cabinet in 1983 have been set free.

Ukraine: A Spanish Embassy Ordeal

In an ideal world, there'd be no need for travelers to waste their time and money obtaining visas: buying a plane ticket and booking a hotel room would suffice. Tanya Kremen, a Ukrainian journalist, studies Spanish but feels that a plane ticket to Latin America costs too much. So she decided to go to Spain. She had a valid visa - unlike the two of her friends who wanted to go along. What follows is the story of their frustrating visit to the Spanish Embassy in Kyiv, posted by Tanya on her blog at Korrespondent.net.

Bahamas: Crime and Punishment

  28 June 2007

Sidney Sweeting at WeblogBahamas.com is astonished at the lenient sentence imposed in the disturbing case of sexual abuse of a six-year-old girl: “If the Attorney General is successful in changing the sentence…perhaps that could be a start for the courts to send a message, with the help of Parliament, that...

Anguilla: Slave Labour?

  28 June 2007

As imported Indian labourers marched against unfair wages on a high-profile resort project, Corruption-free Anguilla writes: “Our government has lost its way. It was the compassion of the ordinary Anguillian that redeemed our government today.”

China: Bloggers take on drugs

  28 June 2007

June 26 was the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, how did your local blogsphere cover it? China took an integrated approach this year: celebrities, posters, online video, petitions and coverage of a public trial of convicted traffickers.

Moldova: Development Strategy

“Moldova's development concept lacks any connection to the external environment, perpetuating isolation and self-centeredness,” Public Policy Watch writes about Moldova's “Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (EGPRSP), developed with the support of the World Bank.”

Russia: PwC Withdraws Yukos Audits

PricewaterhouseCoopers “now believes that information and representations which was provided to PwC by Yukos’ former management may not have been accurate.” Siberian Light comments: “If some of the biggest, and supposedly best auditors in the world can be so easily deceived, then there is absolutely no reason why anyone should...

Serbia, Russia: “What About the Russians?”

Jasmina Tešanović guest-blogs at Boing Boing about what may appear as Serbia's misguided trust in Russia: “Back in 1999, Russians didn’t veto the bombing of Serbia. The Russians are using the Kosovo issue in order to reclaim ex-Soviet territories with Russian populations. Serbs know that the Russians have their own...

China: Revised draft of emergency response law

  27 June 2007

The revised draft of emergency response law has dropped the ban and fine of unapproval report on natural disasters, public health incidents or industrial accidents. David Bandurski from China Media Project has summarized the responses from the Chinese media on the new draft.

Serbia: A Special Case of Blog Plagiarism

  26 June 2007

Does a Creative Commons License help protect your blog from plagiarism? Is it a crime if a person from China copies your blog to overcome the so-called Great Firewall of China, trying to get some money along the way. How to protect yourself from web infringement? Danica Radovanovic is a...

Russia: Beslan Evidence

A Step At A Time reports on the copies of faxes published by PravdaBeslana.ru, which “show that the local [North Ossetian] authorities were aware of preparations for a major terrorist attack involving the movement of convoys of vehicles, and targeting a public building, most probably a school, on “Knowledge Day”...

Arabeyes: How the Palestinians Defeated Themselves!

What is happening in Palestine? Why have the Palestinians turned against each other? What is fueling the conflict? Who is the victor and who is really being defeated? And what next? Palestinian blogger Haitham Sabbah sums up his feelings of disgust and attempts to answer these questions in the following...