12 March 2009

Stories from 12 March 2009

Russia: Bloggers and Dissidents

Window on Eurasia writes: “Russian bloggers, many Moscow commentators have suggested, are today’s version of the dissidents of Brezhnev’s time. But on the occasion of Internet Free Speech Day, one...

12 March 2009

Arab World: Culture, Culture Everywhere

Across the Gulf various cultural festivals and literary events have been taking place in recent weeks, and in this post we hear from some of the region's bloggers who have attended them. However culture is not a politics-free zone; even a book fair or a cultural festival can be a source of tension...

12 March 2009

Pakistan: Long March and Uncertainty

Adil Najam at All Things Pakistan comments on the current political crisis in Pakistan: “It seems that nothing much ever changes in Pakistan politics. Except, maybe, to get progressively worse.”

12 March 2009

India: The Third Front

A number of political parties in India have announced a third front to offer an alternative to the ruling Congress party and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Modern Indian...

12 March 2009

Bangladesh: YouTube Ban and Freedom Of Speech

After the recent unbanning of YouTube and other file sharing sites in Bangladesh Conversations With An Optimist comments that: “I hope this incident shouldn’t become just a flash in the...

12 March 2009

Qatar: The Job Interview

Qatari blogger Aisha describes her experience at a job interview – where she was offered the job, turned it down, then changed her mind.

12 March 2009

Medical checklist reduces surgical deaths

Le Pangolin [Fr] writes about a surgery checklist piloted in hospitals in 8 countries, including the United States and Tanzania.  Studies show the checklist, designed by American doctor Atul Gawande,...

12 March 2009

Brazil: On the Vatican's condemnation of raped-child's abortion

A 9-year-old girl several times raped and made pregnant by her stepfather was guaranteed the right to have an abortion legally in Brazil. After the operation, the Roman Catholic Church excommunicated the mother, the doctor and the whole medical team responsible for the operation. This has sparkled a great debate in Brazil: What is the Church's role in society?

12 March 2009

Ecuador: Quality Control of the Media

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa has had a rough relationship with the media and journalists in that country. A local newspaper claimed that the government was preparing a new law that would give the government more control over public and private media outlets. Even though the government denied this claim, Ecuadorian bloggers participated in an online discussion about the role of the media and the quality of their journalism.

12 March 2009

Kenya: The Big Language Dilemma For Kenyan Poet Bloggers

Kenyan poets, unlike artists, find it easier to write and perform in English as opposed to any other language. This would be closely attributed to what language enables them express themselves better, and most definitely their command of that language. After a few interactions with a cross section of poets and by visiting their blogs, I realized that virtually none write in their mother tongue as much and very few have written in Kiswahili or Sheng.

12 March 2009

Haiti: Responding with Love

“Who is to blame? To me that is an irrelevant question. The question should be, how can I respond with love?”: The Livesay [Haiti] Weblog is shocked by “how ignorant...

12 March 2009

Barbados: Music Man

“It saddens me that such a gifted man is nothing more than a footnote in the history of music in Barbados”: Cheese-on-bread! marks the 39th anniversary of the death of...

12 March 2009