Stories about Politics from December, 2006
Bombs in Bangkok
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
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”
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
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
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…
… 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...
Russia: More On Litvinenko's Death
Aleksandr Litvinenko's case is probably off everyone's radars by now, but Sean's Russia Blog offers a latest news roundup.
The Balkans: EU Enlargement
Did Romania and Bulgaria manage “to get on the last train to Europe” or will the EU enlargement continue? More at Neretva River.
Iran:Ahmadinejad after defeat in Council of City Election
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
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
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
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
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/Ethiopia: Ethiopia's invasion a good idea?
Writing about Ethiopia's invasion of Somalia, Ethan Zuckerman asks, “Does anyone outside of the Bush and Zenawi administrations think this was a good idea?”
Somalia: Islamists should be stopped
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...
Barbados: Caribbean integration
Barbados Free Press takes issue with an ex-diplomat's comments about Caribbean integration.
Ethiopia: angry at Ethiopia-Somali war
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...
Bahamas, Guyana: Garlic pork and Guyanese politics
The vinegary aroma of garlic pork incites Bahamian Larry Smith to a Proustian meditation on the modern political history of Guyana.
Ukraine: Socialists Against Prosecutor General
Foreign Notes reports on the confrontation between Ukrainian socialists and the Prosecutor General's office.
Latin America: “The year that was supposed to be awful”
Ricardo Carreón (who is also trying to organize a Latin America Blogroll) begins the first post of an ambitious series: “This post starts a series of articles of Latin America during 2006. The year that was supposed to be many things, most of them negative, but ended up being a...
Tanzania: president is a servant
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...
