Stories from 28 January 2009
Iran: Political prisoners under more pressure
Ghomar Asheganeh, an Iran based blogger says [fa] that “Iranian political prisoners have been under more pressure recently.They are forced to follow some religious activities such as prayer in order to meet and contact their family members”.
Japan: Dual Employment System
Adamu from Mutantfrog questions if the dual employment system is an asset for Japan to deal with the economic crisis.
Hong Kong: Fortune Stick Reading
ESWN summarized local newspapers reports on fortune stick reading in Lunar new year. The unfavorable outcome stirred up a hot discussion about: who is the traitors inside home?
Israel: Where is Mahmoud al-Zahar?
Senior Hamas official Mahmood el-Zahar is no where to be seen. Gilad Lotan tunes into to the whispers making rounds on the blogs about his possible whereabouts.
Bahrain: Bloggers united against decision to block websites
Bloggers in Bahrain are fuming at a decision by the country's Minister of Information to block access to scores of websites, as well as prevent access to proxy sites which enable surfers to get to sites in a round about manner. Ayesha Saldanha reviews reactions from Bahrain.
Arab World: “We Stopped Saying Israel…”
A message on Twitter calling upon Arabs to stop saying Israel has snowballed into a movement across the Arab world, in this latest twist of the ongoing online war following the Israeli bombing of Gaza. Anas Qtiesh reports from the front lines.
Armenia: Council of Europe Reprieve
Yesterday's meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) gave Armenia one last chance to avoid sanctions following last year's clashes between opposition supporters and security forces in the aftermath of a bitterly contested presidential election. Armenian bloggers react to the news.
The plight of the Rohingya
The Rohingya have been called “trafficked victims”, “refugees”, “forced migrants” and “illegal migrants”. The Irrawaddy provides a comprehensive background to the situation of the Rohingya. This issue has involved Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh and even the United States.
Two-party system inappropriate for Singapore?
groundnotes criticizes Singapore's Prime Minister for saying that political change cannot come from the opposition but from within the ruling party and that a two-party system is not suitable for Singapore because it doesn't have enough talent.
Fiji: Internet and BPO industry
According to The Coconut Wireless, Fiji needs to expand its internet infrastructure if it wants to attract investors in the Business Process Offshoring industry.
Is New Zealand bullying Fiji?
Kiwipolitico accuses New Zealand of being hypocritical and neo-imperialist for criticizing Fiji's military leadership yet it maintains trade and diplomatic relations with countries with “less than stellar human rights records.”
Fiji: Bloggers discuss newspaper publisher's deportation
Fiji’s government deported Fiji Times publisher Monday, January 26, a few days after the newspaper was found guilty of contempt of court and fined nearly $55,000 for printing a “scandalous” letter to the editor.
Peru: Interview with Juan Arellano
Global Voices in Spanish coordinator Juan Arellano is interviewed by Ikitozz City [es] about the Peruvian blogosphere and his work at Global Voices.
Azerbaijan: Parliamentary Deputy Blogs
The USAID Internet Access and Training Program (IATP) blog reports that it has helped five deputies from the Azerbaijani parliament set up their own blogs. The blogs in Azeri are at kamranramazanov.blogmilli.com, mmehdi.blogmilli.com, mmfirdovsi.blogmilli.com, rafikismayilov.blogmilli.com, and vuqarqaracayev.blogmilli.com.
Colombia: Against Bullfighting in Medellín
Andreata of Jovenes Pensantes [es] thinks that more people should protest the annual bullfighting festival in Medellín, Colombia since it is “another death celebrated by many insensitive persons and executed by those.. bullfighters.“
Bolivia: Child Labor a Question of Culture?
Juan Vasquez of Un Boliviano en la Argentina [es] describes a recent conversation with some friends about the practice of child labor, and one wonders whether it is a question of culture noting that many rural children work in the field as a means of learning from parents.
Bolivia: Under-20 Football Team Loses Yet Again
“More of the Same,” writes Jaime Galarza of Once a Once [es] regarding the latest in a string of international debacles by the Under-20 Bolivian National Team, who lost all three games in the first round of the South American football tournament.
Mexico: Startling Discovery in Tijuana
Hache [es] writes about the recent discovery of a man hired by drug cartels in Tijuana, Mexico who disposed the bodies of a reported 300 murdered victims in cauldrons of acid and that the man felt “nothing.” He also claimed that “it is a common job.”
Slovenia: Honoring Auschwitz Survivors
Dr. Filomena dedicates a post to her grandfather’s sister, an Auschwitz survivor: “She was not a Jew, she was not Roma, she was simply the sister of a man who would not bow to the territory-hungry aggressor who’d tried to make his Slovenian family deny its roots and turn its...
Russia: “Economic Shock Therapy”
Sean's Russia Blog cites the director of the Serbsky State Scientific Center for Social and Forensic Psychiatry, who says that “since the financial crisis requests for psychologists have grown by 10 percent and psychotherapy by 20 percent. So much so that the Center has opened a hotline for people in...
Russia: “Izbrannoe” Stops Publication; Gryzlov's Crisis Denial
Lyndon of Scraps of Moscow links to LJ user barabanch‘s report (RUS) that the online magazine Izbrannoe has stopped publication, and notes on Boris Gryzlov's denial of the economic crisis.
