Stories from 24 April 2007
Iraq: Oil Law Threats
Iraq's new oil law threatens to tear apart the war-torn country even further, writes Raed Jarrar. “The law threatens Iraq unity through decentralizing the major authorities related to petroleum operations. Many Iraqis view the law as an “Iraq separation fund”. Many observers this that a number of Iraqi separatist leaders,...
Bahrain: On Poverty
Blogger Chanad Bahraini discusses poverty in Bahrain, saying: “Statements from the prime minister that “new steps are being taken to help needy families in Bahrain” are a dime a dozen. We read about them every few weeks, as the local press always makes sure to give it front page coverage....
Algeria: From Armenia to Islam
Algerian blogger Nouri provides links which discuss why the Armenian genocide should not be called a genocide and who is a moderate Muslim.
Japan: Greenpeace's Anti Whaling Video
James from Japan Probe criticizes Greenpeace's anti Whaling Video as anti-Japanese and inappropriate.
China: The Most “Second” Internet Company
Fang Jun from Mindmeter started the chain blogging on “the most ‘er’ (literally means ‘second’, extended meaning: ‘inferior’ and ‘er’) internet company” in China. His choice are: Sina (stops photo sharing), Focusmedia (too much ads), Google (failure in pinyin typing entry), Myspace China and Baidu Japan (zh). Wang Xiaofeng's choice...
China: Localization of Google Adsense
William Long comments on the localization of google adsense: Will the localization lead to the intervention of local governmental monitoring bodies? Especially from the revenue department? If the monitoring bodies intervene, can Google protect their customers’ privacy? (zh)
Asia: Asian VS. Western Media
Imagethief comments on an article at the Boao Forum for Asia, published in Xinhua. In the article, Liu Jiang, deputy editor-in-chief of Xinhua News Agency, commented that “Developed contrives, which have one seventh of the world population, have dominated two thirds of the total information flow”. Imagethief's insightful response is:...
China: How Sand Storm Makes a Difference
Michael, from the Opposite End of China blogs two pictures, one is before the sand storm, the second is taken after 11 minutes. The reader can see how sand storm makes a difference to the environment.
China: Photo Comic Blog
Jason Li from Virtual China introduced a Photo Comic Blog, Very Real People, Very Entertaining. Humor is very difficult to translate, and Jason tried to capture the sense of Chinese Humor in his post.
Lesotho: election dispute update
Fade Out blogs about election dispute in Lesotho over Proportional Representation (PR) system: “The Public Eye has a second story here, which says absolutely nothing… However it seems that all sides are firm in their commitment to resolve this issue peacefully.”
Kyrgyzstan: Protest's Final Day
Mirsulzhan Namazaliev reports from the scene on the final day of Kyrgyzstan's protests. In the wake of the dispersal of protesters, the government has been harassing opposition members and opposition publications. Azamat reacts with a call for President Bakiev to leave the opposition alone and get back to work.
Armenia: Accessible Elections
Oneworld Multimedia reports on efforts to make Armenian election ballots more accessible to the blind.
