2 April 2007

Stories from 2 April 2007

Ukraine: Between Revolutions

A Fistful of Euros writes about Ukraine, and about revolutions eating their children, and about “shift[ing] away from snipers towards tents and blogs as a means of resolving political conflict.”

Ukraine: Revolution, Again

Enidd describes what it feels like to be in the center of a revolution: “the main thrust of the revolution seemed to be seeing who could wave most flags and jump about the most, and who had the loudest sound system – which made it very like the reading festival,...

China: Persecuting economic crimes

  2 April 2007

Capitalism is now officially approved at the Party level, but with otherwise law-abiding small-scale sidewalk sellers nation-wide operating in constant fear and in conflict with (photos) the chengguan (more photos), the urban management forces found in every city, has this ideological thaw trickled down to the streets? Not yet, says...

Exploring Ecuador's Cyber-South

  2 April 2007

Photograph of Loja, Ecuador by Milton Ramirez Ecuador is a country with low access to the Internet and so most Ecuadorian netizens must save enough money to use an Internet cafe or pay for their own costly connection. The situation is even more interesting if we look at the impoverished...

India: Barcamp Bangalore 3

  2 April 2007

Barcamp Bangalore 3's on and is seeing a huge number of participants. Photographs tagged with the barcamp at flickr. Posts by Himanshu on the Barcamp here, orione. Meanwhile Ponder Point explain what exactly a barcamp is.

Honduras: Sweatshop Friendly?

  2 April 2007

Inspired by a New Zealander blogging about Honduras while in Ireland, “La Gringa” agrees with the description of Honduras as “sweatshop-friendly.”

Iraq: Security Lies

Iraqi blogger Raed Jarrar criticises Senator John McCain's visit to Iraq, saying that the impression it gave about the level of safety and security in Baghdad was misleading. “I don't think many Iraqis can afford to hire some hundreds of bodyguards and a few helicopters to protect them while they...

Iraq: Blasphemous Marines

Iraqi blogger Truth Teller posts two photographs allegedly portraying blasphemous acts committed by US marines in Iraq. One shows a drawing of a cross on the Quran and the second graffiti on a wall which reads: Our God is better than your God.

Egypt: In Defence of Kareem

Writing for The Arabist, Issandr El Amrani links to an article written by a Muslim Brotherhood author in defence of jailed Egyptian blogger Kareem Nabeel Sulaiman, who is serving four years for insulting both Islam and Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.

Egypt: Cover Up Fires

A post on the outbreak of a fire in the Sayeddah area of Cairo, Egypt, by blogger Frederik Richter triggered this comment from reader Amil Khan: “One of the fires I went to was right next to the office. I was surprised to find the same senior policeman who oversaw...

Bahrain: Where Justice Differs

Bahraini blogger Manama Republic laments the loss of a Bahraini security guard, who was shot outside a nightclub, and sheds light on a whole generation of ‘forgotten’ Bahrainis. He questions the lack of police interest in pursuing the perpetrator of this heinous act and wonders whether the killer was a...

Algeria: New Arabism

Algerian blogger Nouri discusses a new wave of Arabism, led by Saudi Arabia. “Saudi Arabia has been driving efforts to construct a regional Arab block to check Iranian influence in the Middle East, a fact that has some American commentators worried,” he writes.