· December, 2006

Stories about Politics from December, 2006

Bombs in Bangkok

  31 December 2006

It was not a good start to the new year in Bangkok as a series of bombs exploded in the city killing two people and injuring several others. From 2Bangkok's Youtube page The lost boy has pictures from one of the explosion sites At 6.45 p.m. today, less than 300...

The Saudi Blogosphere this Past Week

  31 December 2006

Sleeping blogs, zombie computers, Saudi driving culture, Saddam Hussein's hanging, Arabic MTV, Saudi lesbian bloggers, Christmas, and more in this week's roundup. Let's get this started… Relating to the demise of the blogging trend, mentioned in last week's roundup, Ahmad published a very interesting post about Saudi “sleeping blogs.” The...

Russia, Belarus: “Gazilla”

  30 December 2006

There's a distinct sense of deja vu this New Year's Eve: Gazprom, Russia's largest (and state-controlled) company and the world's biggest extractor of natural gas, is in the spotlight again, both locally (due to an ambitious and controversial construction project in St. Petersburg) and internationally (due to a dispute over...

The Iranian Blogestan on Saddam Hussein's death

  30 December 2006

Several Iranian bloggers talked about Saddam Hussein's death and remembered the Iran-Iraq war. Alpar says this year can be considered one of the worst for dictators, adding that Monday's newspapers could carry the following headline: “Four less dictators for 2007″. Alpar writes that Iranian people will celebrate this event, even...

Trinidad & Tobago: Smeltdown

  30 December 2006

The Trinidad and Tobago government's decision to re-locate a controversial aluminium smelter project prompts Jeremy Taylor to raise numerous questions about some key development decisions taken by the current administration: “Would we really need a rapid-rail system costing TT$15 billion if a bit more common sense was applied to the...

Saddam at the Iraqi Blogodrome…

  30 December 2006

… for the last time. Today I post without comment on blogger reactions to Saddam's execution. I'll be posting more updates as the blogs develops. From my honorary Iraqi of the week. A cartoon by Latuff that sums up the mood of many: Like a gathering storm, realization that the...

Iran:Ahmadinejad after defeat in Council of City Election

  29 December 2006

Pro Ahmadinejad's forces got defeated in city council election. Digital Kelachinkov analysed the outcome of this defeat. He says“Populist-fundamentalist” is probably the best term for describing Ahmadinejad and his group. This group has a theoretic wing and also a populist one recent defeat of their supporters in the elections may...

The Balkans: Main 2006 Stories

  29 December 2006

Ed of Balkan Baby lists the most important regional stories of 2006: “Slovenia moves towards Eurozone,” “Croatia and Serbia Disappoint at World Cup,” “Croatia Stop-Start its way towards EU,” etc.

Iran:Sleepless Dictators

  29 December 2006

Futurama says if you listen to one of Saparmurat Niyazov's, former Turkmenistan President, speech, you find out he had never thought about his death. The blogger says the day of Niyazov's death, all dictators in the world were sleepless[Fa].

Burkina Faso: army-police dispute

  29 December 2006

The Head Heeb asks whether we are experiencing another Sahel domino: “As the year draws to a close, another Sahelian country is dealing with growing unrest. This time, the warning signs are coming from Burkina Faso, where a simmering army-police dispute erupted into pitched battles on the streets of the...

Zimbabwe: Saddam's lesson for Mugabe

  29 December 2006

The Beardedman posts links and commentary about the latest political news in Zimbabwe, “I watch the events surrounding the condemned ex-dictator of Iraq with interest. Maybe Mugabe should ‘look East’ – but not as far as he has been doing. Then, perhaps, he might realise what he has done to...

Somalia: Islamists should be stopped

  29 December 2006

Somalia Islamists should be stopped, writes Bashir Goth, “Somalia for Somalis! Let them run their country as they please. Easy words to say but difficult to accept when it means beheading people for not praying five times a day, chopping hands of those who steal to stay alive in a...

Ethiopia: angry at Ethiopia-Somali war

  28 December 2006

Arefaynie Fantahun writes about reaction in Addis Ababa to Ethiopia's war against Somalia, “It is not hard to know how people in Addis are angry at the war with Somalia, which they most say is bizarre and senseless. Many say they haven’t the slightest clue what this war is all...

Tanzania: president is a servant

  28 December 2006

Jaduong Metty writes a letter to the president of Tanzania, Jakaya Kikwete, “Given your recent comments during an exclusive interview with the Guardian, in which you gave the following comment: “ British Prime Minister Tony Blair has invited me on January 16 to visit London. Should I say I am...