Stories from 10 August 2008
Georgia: U.S. Complicity?
A Fistful of Euros comments on speculation that the United States might have effectively given Georgia the green light for military operations in South Ossetia. If so, the blog says,...
Georgia: Protest Photos
Regional Reporters [RU] posts photographs of protests in Tbilisi protesting Russian military action in Georgia. The photographs can be found in two separate posts here and here.
Georgia: Calmness in Gori
Regional Reporters [RU] reports that calmness has descended on the Georgian town of Gori following bombing raids by Russian jets. However, the blog says that bread is in short supply...
Thailand: Thaksin Shinawatra trial
Real Life Thailand lists the possible outcomes of the ongoing trial involving former Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra and his family
ASEAN's 41st anniversary
ephraim posts a speech of Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Day reception. Mr. Yeo stressed that people in the region “must increasingly...
Thailand wins a gold medal
Fable, a Brit-American blogger in Bangkok congratulates Thailand for winning a gold medal in the 2008 Olympics. She also explains why the Olympics TV coverage in Thailand is better than...
National Day of Singapore 2008
It's National Day of Singapore yesterday. The Itch To Write gathers some of the sentiments of young Singaporeans.
Philippines: Technology and city development
Filipino blogger Our Awesome Planet is an admirer of a city mayor who vows to transform a small city into a world class city by leveraging on technology to solve...
Philippines: Charcoal factory
Filipino jounalist and blogger Iris Cecilia Gonzales posts an article and several pictures about a make-shift charcoal factory in Manila.
Georgia, Russia: More Reports On the Conflict From Russophone Bloggers
Blogging from the Georgian port city of Poti, which was bombed by Russian fighter jets shortly after midnight Saturday, LJ user pepsikolka wrote: "It was quiet during the night, but no one went to bed. There's no TV, we're reading the news from our phones. Scary. My friend, a colleague, has been wounded, and there are the dead ones [...]. I've no reason to lie, and those commenters who have doubts just don't know anything about me, I am Russian myself, and that's why I'm writing about facts here, so that you knew, we are alive, but scared. I want peace and this is all." More reports and views in the translation below.
South Ossetia: Olympic Truce
Often overshadowing the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing in the international media, the conflict between Georgia and Russia over South Ossetia has started to raise questions about what the international sporting event is meant to represent. With military action coinciding with the opening of the games, some bloggers are reminding readers of the Olympic Truce.
South Ossetia: Georgia, Russia and the U.S. Presidential Election
With the massive deployment of Russian forces in Georgia, the small South Caucasus country's conflict with Moscow over the breakaway region of South Ossetia has obvious political ramifications thousands of miles away in the United States where presidential elections will be held on 4 November. With some alleging that the crisis reflects a struggle between the West and Russia, where the U.S. Presidential candidates stand on the matter is fast becoming a significant campaign issue.
Korea: Why did Bush come to Korea?
Bush’s visit to Korea for one night and two days on the fifth of August made a lot of people busy: A big group who welcomed his visit in one...
China: Citizen reporter to be deported
The day after live-vlogging the rare phenomenon that is a loud Free Tibet protest in the middle of Tiananmen Square, Noel ‘noneck’ Hidalgo has just tweeted that he is to...
South Ossetia: Not a Single Russian Soldier in Tskhinvali
Contrary to what might be expected, LJ user alan_tskhurbaev [Russian] claims that as of Saturday evening there was still “not a single Russian soldier in Tskhinvali”, quoting a South Ossetian...
South Ossetia: Former USSR Citizens Right to Citizenship
LJ user anton2ov [Russian] argues that South Ossetians – despite nominally being Georgian subjects – have the right to choose Russian citizenship, as the country is a successor state to...
Russia: Elite Struggle in Moscow Unlikely
Robert Amsterdam posted a translation of an article from Nezavismiaya Gazeta, which presents research indicating that an elite struggle in Moscow between the Medvedev and Putin administrations is quite unlikely.
Kuwait: Release Hussein Al Fudalah Now
On July 7, Kuwaiti Hussein Al Fudalah left his home to go fishing and was never seen again. A few days later his family got the news that he was detained in neighbouring Iran. And while Kuwait's newspapers are turning a blind eye to Hussein's plight, one Kuwaiti blogger thinks that enough is enough and is running an online campaign to draw more attention to the captured fisherman.
