Stories from 30 August 2008
Zambia: A costly constitutional blunder
Cho identifies a costly constitutional blunder in Zambia: “A simple requirement in the constitution to have a presidential running mate would have saved Zambia (and its donor partners) a staggering $70m dollars – that is the estimated administrative cost of the upcoming bye-elections.”
Zimbabwe: Dirty Politics
Dirty, dirty politics in Zimbabwe: The MDC has unearthed a plot by the Attorney General’s office and members of the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) to secure convictions against MDC MPs in a bid to reverse the MDC majority in Parliament.
South Africa: The annual Digital Citizen Indaba
Damaria writes about the annual Digital Citizen Indaba in South Africa where she is the keynote speaker.
Thailand: People’s coup or putsch?
Since Tuesday, anti-government protesters have invaded Thailand’s Government House demanding the resignation of Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej. The rallyists, estimated to be as low as 3,000 to as high as 25,000, are members of the People's Alliance for Democracy
Korea: Korean Mata Hari – North Korean Spy Scandal.
While the Beijing Olympics was held, Koreans were excited about news of a series of medals. It even seemed that hot attention to political issues and arguments among the citizens since the inauguration of the new President have slowly diminished. The rate of support for the new President, which drastically...
Angola: On the illegal occupation of a residential plot by a bank
Gil Gonçalves [pt] blows the whistle on the occupation by the Millennium Bank of a residential building in Luanda, Angola. “How does the Millennium Bank and (contractor) Teixeira Duarte SA managed to illegally steal a plot of the land? With so much at ease, it can only be someone usually...
Peru: Views Towards the Indigenous Protests
The protests by indigenous groups in Northern Peru are not always understood in other parts of the country. Some bloggers examine attitudes and views by others, who often look down upon the indigenous groups saying that they are protesting for the wrong reasons or incapable of organizing themselves.
Russia: How to Spell ‘Blogger’ in Russian
There are two ways to spell the word ‘blogger’ in Russian – with two g's or with just one. The former seems to prevail among Russian bloggers, according to LJ user oleg_kozyrev (RUS), who has posted a screenshot of the Yandex Blogosphere Pulse search and also examined spelling preferences of...
Georgia: Photographs of Tskhinvali and Gori
Regional Reporters [RU] posts photographs from Tskhinvali, capital of the breakaway region of South Ossetia, and Gori, the strategic town until recently under Russian occupation, in the aftermath of the recent military conflict and war of words between Moscow and Tbilisi.
Appeal of Singapore-based Burmese patriots
Jacob's Weblog uploads a petition letter by supporters of the six Burmese activists who were denied of visa extension by Singapore's immigration authorities.
Singapore: Blogger-dissident still in jail
Gopalan Nair gives an update about his case. The US-based Singapore activist was jailed by Singapore authorities last May for insulting a judge and other officials.
Audio slide of Bangkok rallies
Newley Purnell has uploaded an audio slide about huge anti-government rallies in Bangkok. The protesters are demanding the resignation of the Prime Minister.
Rotaractors’ views on Indonesia
Rotaract Club Semanggi Jakarta has created a blog to gather the perception of other Rotaractors all over the world about Indonesia.
Egypt: Olympics Investigation
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has ordered an enquiry into why Egypt performed poorly in the Olympics, reports Tom Gara.
Egypt: Orange Ambulances
The Egyptian Health Ministry has introduced orange ambulances to replace their white ones. Zeinobia is not pleased.
Iraq: Fascination for Language
“I am no linguist, but as far as I can remember I have always held a strange fascination for Language,” notes Iraqi blogger Layla Anwar.
Libya: Rain and Sewers
“We had rain today. It rained for about five minutes. Just long enough to churn up the sewer system. Now all of Tripoli smells like sewer gas,” writes Khadija Teri, from Libya.
Guatemala: Pizza and Blogs 2008
Javier Aroche invites Guatemalan bloggers to gather at Pizza and Blogs 2008 [es] on August 30.
Dominican Republic: Visit by Junot Díaz to Santo Domingo
Junot Díaz is a Dominican-American writer, who recently won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Joan Guerrero writes about the recent visit to Santo Domingo by the author [es].
