2 August 2007

Stories from 2 August 2007

Turkey: Stray Bullet Killers

“Shame on anyone who fires a pistol as an expression of joy,” writes Amerikan Turk, following the death of people from stray bullets during celebrations in Iraq, which clinched the...

2 August 2007

Lebanon: Elections, Socio-political Theories, Relief and Blogging

The Lebanese government decided to hold by–elections on August 5. These elections are to fill the parliamentary seats that became vacant due to the assassinations of the past months. Other topics also discussed this week include: the Lebanese middle–class, Lebanese architecture, language and social consciousness, and why dictatorship may be the best solution for Lebanon. In addition to these, there are posts about activities taking place during summer, the border town of Ayta Shaab a year after the July war and about blogging and netizens as well as aid given to the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.

2 August 2007

Egypt: Death of a Teenager in Police Station

In this week's round up from Egypt, Zeinobia is commenting on two stories hitting the headlines in Egypt these days about the Egyptian Judges Club disagreements with the Minister of Justice and the horrific death of a teenager in a police station. Justice for All is reacting to today's collapse of Minnesota Bridge. Missing Egypt who is on a visit to Cairo has an interesting social blog post about Egyptian family traditions. Free Kareem is reporting Reporters without Borders' request to French President Nicolas Sarkozy regarding imprisoned blogger Abdel Kareem Nabil Suleiman. Finally, Tark3at Keyboard is telling us about the new decision on internet subscription that angered Egyptians.

2 August 2007

Cuba: View from a Visitor

“Before I visited, I held the usual Western leftie yes-it's-not-perfect-but-the-blame-lies-with-the USA point of view. After spending a month there, however, my opinions have radically changed.” Kate, a UK-based blogger, shares...

2 August 2007

Uzbekistan: Swiss banker

Craig Murray is not surprised to see a photo of Uzbek president Karimov's daughter and Nathaniel Rothschild, whose family's Swiss banking branch allegedly harbours much of the Uzbek first family's...

2 August 2007

Armenia: Demography

Observer notes that Armenia's rather positive demographic data might deteriorate due to negative population growth rates and large-scale out-migration.

2 August 2007

Afghanistan: The verdict on the king

Mohammad Fahim Khairy says that the recently deceased Afghan King Mohammad Zahir Shah has not achieved anything in his fourty years of rule, but further cemented societal divisions and inequalities.

2 August 2007