6 June 2009

Stories from 6 June 2009

Air Bus AF 447: Sorrow, lack of information and sensationalism

  6 June 2009

Blogs around the world have been sending their condolences to the families suffering the wait for any sign of the vanished Air France Airbus AF 447. Much criticism and discussion is also taking place about the disrespectful way in which the media have been covering the loss of the lives of the 228 on board, and the lack of information regarding the disaster.

Japan: Wrongfully convicted man released with new DNA tests

  6 June 2009

Having serving 17 and a half years of a life sentence for the alleged abduction and murder of a four year old girl, Toshikazu Sugaya was released from prison after new DNA test results proved his innocence. Japan Video News links to an NHK news video with English v.o. Tokyo...

Malawi: Blogger wins BlogHer International Activist Award

  6 June 2009

We first wrote about her in a post that profiled four Malawian female bloggers, on November 4th, 2007. This time we write about her exclusively, and her recent achievement solely to do with her blog. Malawian blogger Pilirani Semu-Banda has won a scholarship award that will take her to the...

Nigeria: The New Afrika Shrine closed by police

  6 June 2009

The New Afrika Shrine in Lagos, Nigeria built and operated by Femi and Yeni Anikulapo Kuti, the eldest son and daughter of cultural icon, Fela Anikulapo Kuti was forcibly closed down last week by the authorities who gave less than 24 hours notice and claimed “noise nuisance, illegal street trading,...

Japan: The curtain rises on the lay judge system

  6 June 2009

May 21st marked the first day in the introduction of the lay judge system in Japan, saiban'in seido (裁判員制度) in Japanese. The first trials in which the new system is to be applied will start in July and six citizens will be called upon to examine and judge criminal cases...

Kazkahstan: The forbidden book

Zhanna says that two weeks ago Rakhat Aliev, former ambassador and son-in-law of the president of Kazakhstan, published his book revealing discrediting materials about the Kazakh governmental officials.

Iran: Bloggers react to fiery presidential debate

Two Iranian presidential candidates, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and former Prime Minister Mir Hussein Mousavi, clashed during a fiery debate broadcast to a national television audience on Wednesday evening. Ahmadinejad charged that Mousavi is being supported by “corrupt” political personalities such as former president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. Mousavi countered that Ahmadinejad's ways have hurt Iran's image across the globe and could be a prelude to a dictatorship.

Egypt: Will there be any action after Obama's Talk?

As expected, US President Barack Obama's speech was received with different and contradicting reactions in the Egyptian blogsphere. While many praised his eloquence, charisma, intelligence and awareness of Arab and Islamic history, more believed it was just the same talk they had heard from other presidents but in a better wrapping. Also, they almost all agreed they are waiting for "action" to prove the supposed "good intentions."