Stories from 4 December 2007
Kazakhstan: OSCE Chairmanship Dubious
Steve LeVine opines that the OSCE has jeopardized its reputation as Europe's premier human rights watchdog by naming a country that has never run a free and fair election to chair the organization in 2010. “The organization would have been better advised to name Ukraine or Georgia to that spot”,...
Sri Lanka: Suicides and Terrorism
indi.ca on the recent suicide bombing in Sri Lanka, and why terrorism has failed.
Pakistan: State of Media
let the mind speak! has a post on the sorry state of affairs when it comes to Media in Pakistan.
Nepal: Radicalism and Politics
Gains and losses for a political party called RPP discussed at Nepali Netbook.
Iran: Blogger jailed over presidential dogs
Reza Valizadeh, 32 years old, journalist and blogger was the object of a complaint from the Iranian president's office and was detained on November 26. Several Iranian blogs and websites say the main reason he was arrested is because he revealed that Ahmadinejad's security staff bought four dogs from Germany...
Trinidad & Tobago: Waiting
“For the best art has no meaning. All it has is feeling”: Trinidadian Andre Bagoo reviews a dance performance piece at Alice Yard.
Tunisian blogger sentenced to one year prison
A Tunisian court has sentenced today blogger and journalist Slim Boukhdhir to one-year prison terms for “aggression against a public employee”.
Jamaica: Rediscovery
Geoffrey Philp continues his rediscovery of Jamaica.
Barbados: Human Development
“Bajans are cock-a-hoop this week with the news that the Human Development Index puts Barbados in 1st place amongst developing countries,” writes Living in Barbados, who notes that there are still challenges to overcome.
Barbados: New Politics?
Barbados Underground questions the island's political maturity and sees the need to “dispense with some of the old politics”.
Kyrgyzstan: Bloggers Stage Flashmob in Memoriam of Slain Journo
Timurrs presents a photo-report from the flashmob that has been staged in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, to commemorate Alisher Saipov, prominent Uzbek journalist who was killed in the Kyrgyz city of Osh 40 days ago.
China: 10 Cases of Injustice
Liu Xiaoyuan gives an update in the development of 10 major legal cases of injustice[zh] as a result of wrong judgment in court in the past ten years. First post and second post.
Hong Kong: Democracy Activist?
Seven Pillars of Wisdom wonders why CNN titled Anson Chan as Democracy Activist while the more accurate title should be AP's Pro-democracy candidate [zh]. The blogger thinks the difference reflected the media's political stance.
Japan: Little Black Sambo Debate
James from Japan Probe blogs about the re-curring debate about racism over a doll ‘Little Black Sambo’.
China: From Tiger to Moon Photo
Netizens started to examine the moon photo by comparing China version with the U.S version.- more from DANWEI.
Afghanistan: ABC/BBC/ARD survey reveals problem spots
Christine Quirk reviews a nationwide survey conducted in Afghanistan on behalf of ABC news, BBC News and ARD of Germany, whose results are interesting for a number of reasons – particularly the wealth of tracking data from 2006 and 2005. The economy remains a serious trouble spot, as does security.
Kazakhstan: Touring Kazakhstan in Search of Blogs
Adam Kesher reports on the tour he has made across Kazakhstan, delivering seminars on blogging for the regional journalists, and shares his views on the prospects of citizen journalism in Kazakhstan.
Afghanistan: Opium Season
Ian reviews briefly a new book “Opium Season: A Year on the Afghan Frontier” by Joel Hafvenstein, saying that the author knows how to write, and unlike many writers about Afghanistan, has a sense of measure and humility about his own limitations and failures.
Afghanistan: New “Super-Envoy” to Kabul
Carl Robichaud reports that Paddy Ashdown, the former EU-UN High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, has been offered a newly created position in Kabul as a “super envoy” that would head Afghanistan efforts by NATO, the UN, and perhaps the EU.
Peru: All About Alan García
Peruvian president Alan García is a favorite subject for bloggers to write about. The subjects include García's foray into the world of journalism and questions whether he actually writes the opinion pieces. In addition, other bloggers discuss the president's latest approval ratings and his proposal to change the trials law, which would benefit extraditated ex-president Alberto Fujimori.
Myanmar: Making Burmese Junta Negotiate More Seriously
Jotman meets a “breakaway ABSDF leader who is plotting new strategies intended to make the junta (SPDC) take negotiations more seriously”. ABSDF stands for All Burma Students’ Democratic Front.
