Stories from 3 December 2007
Tunisian blogger/journalist arrested
The outspoken Tunisian journalist and blogger Slim Boukhdir has been arrested on November 26 and charged with “aggression against a public employee” and “affront to public decency”. The court denied his release and the hearing is scheduled to resume tomorrow, December 4. Slim Boukhir could face up to 18 months...
Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados: Beckles Knighted
West Indies Cricket Blog pays tribute to West Indies Cricket Board director Hilary Beckles, Barbados’ newest knight.
Puerto Rico: Nine Things
Gil the Genius lists nine things that he thinks Puerto Rico needs.
Jamaica: The Problem With Reading
“Books rarely upset me, but readers appall me all the time”: Marlon James explains.
Haiti: Climate Change
Haiti Innovation wonders what the meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change means for Haiti.
Guyana: UFOs?
Guyana-Gyal‘s friend spots a UFO – vicariously, that is.
Dominica: Nothing Here For You?
Steve's Dominica responds to an article that suggests his island is “a place best avoided”.
Cuba: Venezuela Votes “No”
Child of the Revolution awaits “with great interest for the Castro regime's response” to the “No” vote against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's proposed constitutional reform.
Kyrgyzstan: Political season gets hot
Bloggers in Kyrgyzstan discuss the changes that the government is undergoing after the President Bakiev’s sudden dismissals and appointments of a whole bunch of key state figures. Newly appointed and recently dismissed officials have always attracted attention of bloggers, who constantly express and share their opinions and forecast who is...
Turkmenistan: New Award Named After Dictator
Maciula informs the readers that the Turkmen authorities established a new – extremely controversial – order named after Tukmenbashi, who died almost a year ago. It is to be awarded to foreign politicians for their “contribution to the fostering of peace in the region and in the world, raising Turkmenistan’s...
Uzbekistan: Ripping off the tourists
Libertad says that being a tourist in Uzbekistan is really difficult. People, for who the tourism is the only source of income, do their best to get more money as possible from the Westerners, and gives some recommendations on how to avoid cheat.
Uzbekistan: Flash-mob in memoriam of the slain journalist
Tolkun Umaraliev reminds that on December 4 it will 40 days since the death of Alisher Saipov, a prominent journalist, who was shot dead on October 24, 2007, in the southern city of Kyrgyzstan for his journalistic activity in Uzbekistan. Kyrgyz and Uzbek bloggers will make a flash-mob to commemorate...
Kyrgyzstan: Back to the USSR, or forward to the past.
Asel reflects on the usage of old Soviet terminology for the trademarks and brand marketing in Kyrgyzstan. “Probably, it is just a bit of PR to attract clients, but there are certainly those who do not really welcome this kind of PR ideas”, she says.
Kyrgyzstan: Cheap Labor
Mirsulzhan says that according to the report of the Programme for International Students Assessment (PISA), Kyrgyz school pupils have demonstrated the lowest level of knowledge among their mates in in 57 OECD countries.
Kazakhstan: Shushkevich vs Nazarbayev
Adam Kesher reports about S. Shushkevich's (who used to be the first Belarusian leader) interview to a Kazakh provincial newspaper, where he criticizes both Belarusia's Lukashenka and Kazakhstan's president Nazarbayev.
Turkmenistan: Bush Administration Looks at Ashgabat
Joshua Foust reiterates that the U.S. has been strategically negligent with regards to Turkmenistan, and reports that few days earlier Condoleeza Rice has appointed Thomas Pickering, one of the most respected diplomats, to take over the job of coordinating the U.S. diplomatic push in the Caspian region in a newly...
Kazakhstan: Govt Wants Equal Share in the Project of the Century
Steve LeVine informs the readers that Kazakhstan's government officially stated that it wants an equal share with the top owners of the Kashagan oilfield — Exxon, Shell, Total and Eni. But is it willing to pay? And will Exxon go along?
Climate Change 2007: Pre-conference views and first impressions of Bali
As the UN climate change conference begins in Bali, we step back a few days to see what bloggers had to say. From Gristmill in America, David Roberts celebrated Australia's recent support of the Kyoto protocol, saying Ever since I was hired at Grist, I've been writing that every developed...
Bahrain: Uneducated Parliamentarians Talk Money Affairs
Bahraini blogger emoodz wonders how uneducated and unprofessional parliamentarians could possibly discuss “the controversial issue of pegging the Bahraini Dinar to the US Dollar.”
Jordan: Environmental Costs of Elections
Jordanian Batir Wardam updates us about the environmental costs of the parliamentary elections, held recently in his country, in this post.
Jordan: Save the Internet
“Big companies lobby every day for control of internet access, speed and content. In essence they want to transform the freeway model of networking to a toll road version,” writes Jordanian blogger Bakkouz, who appeals to his readers to join the Save the Internet coalition and sign the Internet Freedom...
