Stories from 5 July 2007
Russia: “Khodorkovsky's Land”
A few photos from Chita – “Khodorkovsky's Land” – by Oleg Klimov are here. The last one allegedly shows windows of the former billionaire's cell. (The text is in Russian.)
Russia: Sochi Victory
Siberian Light writes: “I suspect that the people of Sochi are especially pleased by their victory. As well as all the business possibilities opened up by their victory […].” Megan Case quotes a Russian friend: “If I wake up tomorrow and Sochi has been chosen I’m going to hate Putin...
Russia: Tesak Arrested
Leader of a neo-Nazi group (a college student as well as a blogger) is arrested in Moscow, and Sean's Russia Blog “for once [stands] with the Interior Ministry.”
Ukraine: Yalta European Strategy
Ukrainiana writes about a Yalta European Strategy (YES), a get-together of “a loose alliance of ‘friends of Ukraine’ among Western political elites,” sponsored by Victor Pinchuk, ex-president Kuchma's son-in-law.
Ukraine, Russia: Sochi and Visas
Ukraine Today congratulates Sochi with winning the 2014 Winter Olympics bid and writes: “Ukraine should seek to encourage Russia to free up its visa requirements for short term visits bringing Russia's visa's system in line with Ukraine and other Eastern European Countries. Russia's current visa requirements are holding back tourism...
Ukraine: Buying Art
Olechko writes on buying art in Ukraine.
Iran:Helping Lebanon but not Iranian Flood Victims
Balouch says[Fa] that according to Iranian media, government's help for many flood victims in Sarvan in Sistan and Balouchestan province has not been sufficient.The blogger reminds us that Iranian government paid 20 thousands dollars to (Shi'ite) people who lost their houses in Lebanon during last year war.
Tamil Blogosphere: The Cheroot Store
The Cheroot is a cylindrical cigar with both ends clipped during manufacture. Since cheroots do not taper, they are inexpensive to roll mechanically, and their low cost makes them particularly popular. The word cheroot comes from French cheroute, from Tamil curuttu/churuttu/shuruttu – roll of tobacco. This word could have been...
South Asia: Doctors in the UK
With doctors in the NHS being connected to the terror plot in the UK, The Daily Rhino on the politics of healthcare and NHS.
Pakistan: Lal Masjid and Truths
Behind the Chairman's Door has a sharp response to those who state the Government in Pakistan shouldn't have dealt with the Lal Masjid issue the way it had.
China: robot fight robot
Douban's blog aggregator uses a technology to fetch the blog posts even the host is blocked, and the popularity of the post is determined by the reviews and recommendations it receives. All done by a software “robot” against another robot: Great Fire Wall. — More from Bingfeng
Nepal: Intellect and Politics
United We Blog! has an interesting post in defense of the “non-intellectuals” in politics, and the attack by the self-professed intelligentsia on the basis of intellect.
Sri Lanka: Free Media
A Voice in Colombo on the state of free media in Sri Lanka, and if it really is free.
China: Female reporter fist fight
ESWN translated a blog post by a female reporter in a mainland local newspapers China Times, who got into a physical fight with a colleague during an editorial meeting. The reason had to do with plagiarism on a grand scale.
Japan: Museums’ political leanings
James from Japan Probe blogs a chart for Japanese museums’ political leanings.
Africa: United States of What?
No Longer At Ease weighs in on the idea of building a United States of Africa: “When I heard about the idea being discussed in the AU summit of creating a United States of Africa I thought it was just another laughable idea from Gaddafi. But then I found out...
Trinidad & Tobago: The Police
Now is Wow blogs about the police (no, not the band) in Trinidad and Tobago.
Egypt:Jailed Bogger Sends Letter, Another intimidated, Baha'is Continue Struggling and More
In this week's round-up from Egypt, jailed blogger Karim Amer sends a letter from prison, Wael Abbas gets intimidated by security forces over the phone, a new Baha'i rights website is launched, and a belly dancing festival concludes in Cairo and more.
Bahamas: Cultural Production
Nicolette Bethel, guest authoring at Bahama Pundit, says that culture is the one area in which the Caribbean can compete on a global level: “We've become accustomed to thinking of culture as a series of events, rather like pearls, which are strung out along the calendar. We don't see it...
Cuba: Environmental Issues
Both Babalu Blog and Child of the Revolution are unimpressed with the UN‘s take on Cuba's environmental issues.
Bahamas: Hurricanes and Global Warming
Larry Smith at Bahama Pundit refers to a book by science journalist Chris Mooney, which links hurricanes with the battle over global warming: “This has enormous implications – particularly for us in the Bahamas – because strong hurricanes cause dramatically more destruction than weak ones when they hit land.”