Stories from 28 June 2007
Egypt: Freedom of Worship, Blogs to the Press, Anti-torture Campaigns Continue and More
In this week’s round-up from the Egyptian blogosphere, I am highlighting freedom of worship from two blog posts by Big Pharaoh and Baha’i Faith in Egypt, how an Egyptian blogger has started covering blogs for a weekly newspaper in Egypt, how anti-torture campaigns by bloggers extend to one of Egypt’s coastal cities and finally a technological tip by Greendata blog for Facebook users.
Benin: Is the press living up to its promise?
Babilown posts an article that asks whether the Beninese press is living up to its responsibility (Fr) to act as the “fourth branch” of government. “Whether the executive, the legislative, or the judicial branch…in all spheres of public life, too often we are content to wallow in mediocrity, in the...
Kazakhstan: No more gambling!
What happened to the ubiquitous casinos in downtown Almaty since they got banned? Adam Kesher investigates on neweurasia.
Facets of Afghanistan
Both Registan.net and Nonpon discuss the drawings of Canadian National Post illustrator Richard Johnson, who spent two months embedded with Canadian troops in Kandahar and presents a rare and haunting insight into life in the war-torn province.
RFE/RL under attack in Armenia
The Armenian branch of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, one of the few independent broadcasters in the country, is under increasing pressure from the government, report Oneworld and The Armenian Observer.
Central Asian Agriculture
Bonnie Boyd reports of locusts plaguing the region and draconian regulations forcing Uzbek farmers to harvest green wheat.
Trinidad & Tobago: Midnight Robber
“Ah does bade in acid and scrub meh teeth in the ashes of Caroni and grease meh foot beyond petroleum jelly…and when I laugh a roar more terrible than Ivan tumbling over Grenada to make politicians scamper like pot hounds in the gutter.” Thebookmann posts a speech from The Midnight...
Cuba: Bye Bye Blair
Child of the Revolution acknowledges former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair's departure from office and shares why he's sad to see him go.
Bahamas: Crime and Punishment
Sidney Sweeting at WeblogBahamas.com is astonished at the lenient sentence imposed in the disturbing case of sexual abuse of a six-year-old girl: “If the Attorney General is successful in changing the sentence…perhaps that could be a start for the courts to send a message, with the help of Parliament, that...
Belize: Free Text Books for Primary School Children
Simone's Belize Blog is overjoyed at the news that the Belizean government will start supplying all primary school children with free text books.
Barbados, Jamaica: Irving Youngest to Fly Solo Around the World
Barbados Free Press celebrates the outstanding achievement of Jamaican-born Barington Irving, who has become the youngest pilot and the first black person to fly solo around the world – and they're even more impressed to learn that he built his aircraft himself!
Bahamas: Reinventing our Image
“People are people, and fundamentally people are all the same. The differences are superficial; underneath, we are more alike than we think.” Nicolette Bethel calls for a reinvention of “the images of savages” that have subconsciously defined the people of the Caribbean.
Anguilla: Slave Labour?
As imported Indian labourers marched against unfair wages on a high-profile resort project, Corruption-free Anguilla writes: “Our government has lost its way. It was the compassion of the ordinary Anguillian that redeemed our government today.”
Russia: Attic Repairs
Ruminations on Russia explains what the oligarchs’ flight from Russia may have to do with the delayed repairs of an attic at one apartment building in Moscow.
Russia, U.S.: Comparative Presidential Popularity
As Putin and Bush are about to meet on Sunday, Sean's Russia Blog discusses a survey comparing the two leaders’ popularity.
Ukraine: Kyiv Traffic Jam
Olechko gets stuck in traffic in Kyiv and discusses possible reasons for the jam with her cab driver: “[…] end of year graduation, Rada’s last meeting for the year, end of business quarter, beginning of four-day weekend!”
Russia: Monument to the Defenders of Leningrad
Darkness at Noon posts pictures from the Monument to the Defenders of Leningrad.
Croatia: Marko Perković Thompson
Illyrian Gazette and Balkan Baby write about the controversial Croatian singer Marko Perković Thompson and his recent concert in Zagreb. In the same post, Balkan Baby also writes about Tito's birthplace and football.
Russia, Belarus: Blaming Putin and Lukashenko
Adam Goodman of Being Had admits that life is tough in Belarus and Russia, but disagrees with La Russophobe‘s perspective: “[…] I refuse to believe, just as I have since I started writing about Belarus, that it is appropriate to place the blame solely on Lukashenka or Putin.”
Poland, Germany: “Stepmother of Europe”
Publius Pundit quotes from a BBC piece on the Polish-German relations and reproduces the controversial cover of the Polish weekly Wprost, featuring a computer-generated image of German Chancellor Angela Merkel breastfeeding Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski and President Lech Kaczynski.
Central & Eastern Europe: Political Parties
Dr Sean's Diary fails to come up with “two or three examples of parties in CEE that might plausibly resemble the ‘radical right wing populists’ (as opposed to old-style neo-fascist or integral-national extreme right)”: “Plenty of successors to blood and soil national traditions, now somewhat tamed by post-1989 realities of...
