Stories from 24 June 2008
Egypt: Bahai Rights Comic
Mideast Youth publishes a comic strip here about the rights of the Bahai religuious group here.
Jordan: A Hushed Up Secret
From Jordan, Naseem Tarawnah writes about a letter “written and signed by a group of ex-politicians, including a past prime minister and head of the GID, Ahmad Obeidat, and essentially it strongly criticizes the government for its liberal economic policies, the way it is being managed, and more specifically, the...
“Qatar's greatest football moment…”
Football fans in Qatar were ecstatic over the Qatari national teams 1-0 win over Iraq in a World Cup qualifier. Greeker described it as “Qatar's greatest football moment…” writing: 75th minute, Said Bachir heads in a goal. A moment frozen in time. QATAR lives its greatest moment in international football....
Morocco: The Fez Festival of World Sacred Music
As the 14th annual Fez Festival of World Sacred Music comes to a close, bloggers – both Moroccan residents and travelers – share their experience with this year's festival. The View from Fez bloggers, who were fortunate enough to be in the thick of things for all of the festival,...
Korea: Hiddink’s Miracle and Korean Politics.
When Hiddink led the Korean soccer team into the semifinals of the 2002 World Cup he became a hero in Korea. Everywhere – in bookstores and on advertisements – was his face. People were busy talking about his leadership and fresh thought. He was harshly criticized by the media early...
Kazakhstan: Freedom House blames Astana
Zhanna Zhukova reports that Freedom House said yesterday that the resource curse in energy-rich Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan is taking root.
Kazakhstan: Highway to prosperity
Ben reports on the World Bank’s president, Bob Zoellick, visit to Kazakhstan, which has resulted in a $2.5 billion infrastructure project.
Turkmenistan: Ashgabat Buys Russian Weapons
Peter reports on a Russian arms deal to sell Turkmenistan six BM-30 Smerch multiple rocket launchers.
Uzbekistan: The slain journalist's father calls on authorities
Libertad translates a post about the letter of a father of a murdered journalist Alisher Saipov addressed to the presidents of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
Afghanistan: Costs and benefits
Peter Marton quotes a high-ranking German general, who admits that the costs and benefits of the Afghanistan mission have to be expected, not merely counted as they are at present.
Uzbekistan: Fighting internet censorship
Today, Uzbekistan is remaining one of the repressive countries in the region that maintains a tight grip on mass media. Despite it has all the nominal guarantees of the freedom of speech, the media is being systematically attacked by the government. The article 5 in the law of the Republic...
Hong Kong: No Blogger Accreditation
Thomas Crampton talked to the Hong Kong government’s Director of Information Services Betty Fung, who said Hong Kong does not recognize bloggers for accreditation to official media events and she has never received a request for accreditation from a blogger.
China: Politicization of Xiaonei.com
Xiaonei.com is one of the largest social networking site in China targeting at university students. ESWN translated an article from my1510 on the recent politicization within the network.
Hungary: Photoblogging
As the Global Voices Citizen Media Summit in Budapest is less than one week away, and after introducing a few Hungarian food blogs, we have been now browsing through Hungarian photoblogs. There are many of them and the quality is very high, so here's just a little sample.
Caucasus: Religious Practices
Social Science in the Caucasus examines data on religious practices in the region. The blog of the Caucasus Resource Research Centers (CRRC) uses its own data to assess the importance of religion in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. According to the survey from last year, respondents in Georgia were more numerous...
Colombia: Conclusions from Blogger Gathering
Campus Comunicativo [es] writes about the recent Colombian blogger gathering and provides some conclusions from the event, such as the need to find ways to make blogs profitable through e-marketing and third-party financing.
Bolivia: Autonomy Referendum in Tarija
Miguel Centellas and Miguel Buitrago both write about the recent autonomy referendum in Tarija, Bolivia, which passed with approximately 80% in support.
Russia: “Football Revolution”
It was a wild, sleepless night in Russia, following the national football team's 3-1 win over the Netherlands and its advance to the Euro 2008 semi-finals on Saturday. In the streets of Moscow, some 500,000 fans celebrated this unexpected victory - and similar euphoria engulfed most Russian cities as well. Below are a few reactions and photo posts by Russian bloggers.
