Stories from 17 April 2008
Indonesia: Alert level raised around Mt. Papandayan
News from Indonesia reports that alert level was raised on Indonesia's Mount Papandayan volcano. The volcano lies 51 Kilometers southeast of Indonesia's third-largest city, Bandung, which is home to around three million people.
Malaysia: The Opposition versus a High Court Judge
Is Malaysia's opposition party using its new found political power to harass a High Court Judge?
Malaysia's flawless democracy?
The Lost Aborigine believes Malaysia's “flawless democracy should be rejected.” The blogger adds: “It must first begin with the step down of the Prime Minister and equality to the non-Malay Bumiputera.”
East Timor President returns home
Xanana Republic Gazette describes how the East Timor President was greeted by his people when he arrived back in the country. An onlooker described the returning president as “frail but tense.”
Thailand: Bangkok freeze
bact’ is a name writes about the planned Bangkok freeze: Street people will be gathering together in downtown Bangkok to “freeze” themselves for 5 minutes on April 20
Laos: Low happiness rating
Apocalypse Lao notes that in the map of the world’s happiness, Laos has a very low happiness rating.
Brunei: Discriminating the disabled
Our Local Style points out that “the situation in Brunei for those with disabilities is dismal when compared against other nations.”
Bhutan: An individual's rights
Freedom in Bhutan on why protecting an individual's rights is crucial for a democracy.
Nepal: On the Maoists
United We Blog! on the perceptions of Maoists in Nepal.
Singapore: Praise for Hillary Clinton
Blogging from Singapore, Blowin’ In The Wind describes U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton as “passionate and true to her convictions.”
Pakistan: Food crisis
The Pakistani Spectator on the food crisis which is no longer a “local” issue.
Bahamas: Code of Ethics
“It has long been a desire of mine to see Parliament pass legislation committing a Code of Ethics for Parliamentarians…”: Rick Lowe at WeblogBahamas.com explains.
Trinidad & Tobago, Venezuela: Archaeological Find
Caribbean Beat Blog reveals that on the island of Cubagua, situated between Venezuela's northeastern shoreline and the resort island of Margarita, “researchers reportedly have found archaelogical traces of three distinct periods of human history in the Americas.”
Bermuda: Restricting the Media?
Vexed Bermoothes reports that the government's decision to pull advertising from the Royal Gazette has prompted a letter of complaint from The Inter American Press Association: “It’s really quite an embarrassment for Bermuda to be singled out for this criticism … to be grouped in with countries that sponsor censorship,...
Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago: Debt of Gratitude
Signifyin’ Guyana profiles a Trinidad-born writer whose latest work book was a finalist for the 2008 National Book Critics Circle Award for biography: “I owe Arnold Rampersad a great big thank-you for making this West Indian woman feel a lot more comfortable about studying Literature in huge American undergraduate classrooms…”
Iran:Ahmadinejad and his new illusion
Jomhour says[Fa] that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iranian President, called 11 September attacks a “suspicious event”. Ahmadinejad says the name of victims never got announced!The blogger writes it is a new illusion of Ahmadinejad and Jomhour invites him to check the name of the victims in this site.
Iran: Woman activist is released on bail
According to[Fa] Change4equality, Khadijeh Moghadam, an Iranian woman activist for equal rights,has been released on bail after 9 days in Tehran. She has been accused of activities against “national security.” Several people waited for her outside of the prison.Watch the photos here.
Brazil: Lending a hand to police bloggers
Alexandre de Sousa [pt] is lending a helping hand to other Brazilian police officers who have or wish to have blogs. In the last post of his series of tutorials, he gives some basic tips and blog optimization hints and says he wants to see even more. “The Public Security...
Macau: Social issues behind death penalty in China
Leocardo [pt] comments on this week's Amnesty International's report that ranked China the first in the world in the number of executions in 2007 (470), followed by Iran (317), Saudi Arabia (143), Pakistan (135) and the US (42). He analyzes the social issues behind death penalty in China and is...
Mozambique: On the new statutory minimum wage
Basilio Muhate [pt] talks briefly about the consensus reached by Mozambique's trade unions and the employers’ associations in the negotiations for a new statutory minimum wage in eight of the nine sectors defined by the government. “If indeed there has been a consensus, it is a good step from the...
Kazakhstan: US on Stans, Same Difference
Adam is exasperated by the US’s one-size-fits-all approach to Central Asia that puts Kazakhstan and Afghanistan in the same category.
