· June, 2010

Stories about North America from June, 2010

Russia, U.S.: The “Spy Ring” Story

A selection of posts on the “Russian spy ring” story: Julia Ioffe at The Daily Beast; A Good Treaty; Yelena Osipova at Global Chaos; Mark Adomanis at True/Slant; Vadim Nikitin at FPA's Russia blog; Dina Fainberg at The Dustbin of History; Catherine Fitzpatrick at Minding Russia; Windows to Russia; Eugene...

Russia, US: “Burger Diplomacy”

Vadim Nikitin wonders if the Medvedev-Obama meeting is a sign that “[…] the Russian President, for so long considered a mere window dressing to Prime Ministerial rule, might stick around longer than Putin might like?” Robert Amsterdam writes that “burger diplomacy” is “[…] an apt epithet for a relationship that...

Ghana: Obama, we are sorry

  27 June 2010

“Obama we are sorry,” says Ghanaian photographer and blogger Nana following Ghana victory USA at the FIFA World Cup: “It’s quite unfortunate you’d have to skip dinner today. We know you’ve been terribly stressed lately: BP, Flotilla, Health Reform, Overweight recruits… and then this happens.”

Worldwide: The oil spills that don't make the news

  26 June 2010

The tragic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has the world's attention on the devastation that badly managed oil extraction can bring. However, in some places around the world, people live with toxic spills such as these and through videos people try to bring the world's attention to their plight.

Russia: Bloggers React to President Medvedev's Silicon Valley Tour

For the first 24 hours, Dmitry Medvedev's @KremlinRussia Twitter account provided a unique opportunity to send unmoderated comments to the Russian president. Then all the comments were removed, and the era of the Russian unmoderated online democracy ended. Gregory Asmolov reviews Russian bloggers' reactions to the president's visit to California.

Russia: President Medvedev Visits Silicon Valley

Russian president Dmitri Medvedev, during the widely discussed tour to the Silicon Valley, dined with Arnold Schwarzenegger [EN], visited Apple [RUS], officially started [EN] an account on Twitter [RUS] at the company's headquarters, and refused [EN] to meet with Google‘s creator Sergey Brin. The Russian blogosphere reacted [RUS] with a number of...

Israel: Dubious Thanks to USAID

JoeSettler posts a photo of a sign he often passes that reads, “This [road] is a gift from the American people to the Palestinian people.” “What I think that USAID overlooked,” he comments, “Is that Jews also use this road regularly.” According to their website, USAID has donated $1 billion...

China: Southern Media Group bid on Newsweek rejected

  18 June 2010

Little is known regarding the reason why a prominent mainland Chinese media group's bid to purchase the American magazine Newsweek ended in failure and an interview this week with the man who reportedly led the bidding process leaves observers with yet more questions.

USA: Soldier Homecomings on YouTube

  18 June 2010

The moment when a soldier returns from duty abroad can capture human emotion like no other. On YouTube, videos of soldiers coming home have multiplied over the past several years.

South Korea: Understanding the Oil Spill From Painful Experience

  14 June 2010

As the BP oil spill disaster in the United States is reported in South Korea, numerous Korean bloggers, for whom painful memories of the deadliest oil spill in Korean history in 2007 remains fresh, are expressing their worries and sympathy to the oil spill victims. In December 2007, 2.7 million...

Australians Reflect on Obama's Presidency So Far

  14 June 2010

U.S. President Barack Obama has cancelled a trip to Australia for the second time this year, because of the oil spill crisis. Last time the reason was health care legislation. In his absence bloggers have been assessing his role and his performance as President

Global: Tweeting the USA/England Match

The Twittersphere was abuzz during the USA/England #worldcup match on June 12. The game was highly anticipated in the United States, where TV ads touted it as the "most anticipated" match of the World Cup, whereas in England, fans were nearly certain their team would win.

India: Canadian Visa For BSF Members

  13 June 2010

There is a lively discussion going on in Death Ends Fun Blog on the issue of denial of Canadian visa to an ex- Indian Boder security Force (BSF) member because the force has a record of violence.