Stories from 7 June 2007
Serbia: The Lustration Law
Serbia's parliament passed the Lustration Law in 2003 - but it has still not been implemented. The Serbian public knows that the Serbian Radical Party and the Social Party of Serbia are against the implementation of the Lustration Law, while the liberal Democratic Party continues to be in its favor. What the Serbian public does not know is why the Serbian government, which, naturally, has to carry out an order of the parliament, does not put the Lustration Law into effect.
Ukraine: “Emergency Assistance for Street Children”
Scenes from the Sidewalk reports on the work of a newly-created “mobile unit” whose aim is to assist Kyiv “street children or children in at-risk situations.”
Ukraine: Rusyns
Dykun returns to blogging with a post on the plight of Ukraine's Rusyns, who were recently recognized as an indigenous nationality of the Transcarpathian region.
Russia: The New Times Money Laundering Text 2
Robert Amsterdam posts the translation of The New Times’ second investigative piece on the probe into Raiffeisen's alleged ties to money laundering.
Russia: Gorbushka
Two-Zero and The Turkish Invasion write about what looks like a semi-end of the golden age of Gorbushka, Moscow's legendary “pirate DVD empire.”
Russia: “The Azeri Option”
Sean's Russia Blog reports that at the G8 Summit, Bush and Putin “appeared to come to some agreement over the placing of missile defense systems in East Europe” – thanks to the surprise “Azeri option.”
Iran: Second Cultural Revolution Coming?
Universities in different parts of Iran are experiencing a new wave of repression by security forces. Between 6-8 student activists, members of student associations, and independent professors who dare to think and express their ideas differently than the Iranian establishment, have been arrested in recent weeks, or are awaiting court...
Egypt: Free Kareem Site Hacked
“Unfortunately, someone gained access to our FTP, databases, and host panel and managed to take down all our websites, including this one. Everything was affected: files, plugins, backups, posts. Lalith our webmaster is still in the process of recovering our data. Please be patient with us if you note any...
China: Flickr filtered
The distinct 2.0ness with which an unprecedented environmental protest was carried out last week in southern China's seaside Xiamen city seems to have resulted, as of June 7, in the service of two websites key to the exclusive blog coverage of the event being disrupted: Bullog.cn, where live updates from...
India: Protests at G8
a reader's words on the protests at the G8 venue. “Why are these people protesting? The answer is very simple- even as globalization creates islands of the first world in the malls in Shanghai and Bangalore, it is also creating a Third World-like underclass in the developed world.”
India: Google and Me
Dina Mehta is concerned by Google's apparent disregard for user privacy, given their common login protocols across their services. “In countries like India however, where for the large part, computers are shared at work and home – this could become a problem. Not everyone has the know-how or the presence...
Sri Lanka: State Sponsored Abductions
Lanka Whistle-Blower on what appear to be state sponsored abductions. ” It started with abductions of Tamil businessmen, and extended to the Muslim community, and has now made the transition to the Sinhalese as well.What is all the more shocking — no wait, I take that back. What is all...
Sri Lanka: Prof VK Samaranayake
Open Maze and other blogs on the death of Prof. V.K. Samaranayake. “This is shocking news; he was the founder of the BIT (Bachelor of Information Technology- External) program at the University of Colombo (UCSC). Thanks to him lots of people, including me got the opportunity to step into the...
Trinidad & Tobago: Effective Lobbying
Jeremy Taylor uses the protests against the proposed Alcoa smelter plant to put forward a simple solution for enforcing change: “These problems are never going to be solved by individual voices crying in the wilderness. If we want to solve them, if we really want to know ‘what can we...
Bangladesh: McKaaba?
a bengali in TO is provoked by the news of a kid who interprets the influence of corporate giants on religion. “It was a near riot. Shouting, gesturing, threatening the student who made the exhibit with dire consequences, they forced the principal to act. She of course marched to where...
Jamaica: Customs Woes
The alleged involvement of Caribbean nationals in the recent JFK terror plot complicates Jamaican Marlon James’ entry into the US: “Maybe I do come to the States too much. I have never been to Europe, or Africa, or South America or even most of the Caribbean. Why was I coming...
Cambodia: Stars on Myspace
Mungkol is surprised by the number of Cambodian pop stars on Myspace.
Guyana: Curry Favour?
Guyana-Gyal is engaged in a war of words with the most unlikely of characters…
Cuba: Castro's TV Appearance
Babalu Blog reports on the differing reactions to Fidel Castro's first television appearance since his illness.
Thailand: Don't Criticize the Judges
The Lost Boy updates us on the latest happenings in Thailand where a constitutional tribunal is asking members of the public to avoid voicing out criticism against the tribunal's decision to ban former prime minister Thaksin's party.
Barbados: Caribbean Vacation?
Barbados Free Press quotes the Caribbean Tourism Organisation's Secretary-General to make the point that since US citizens are required to have passports for air travel, the Caribbean is no longer their preferred destination.
