Stories from 4 July 2010
Ukraine: Crimean Tatar Heritage
Linda Norris of The Uncataloged Museum writes about her first encounter with the Crimean Tatars and their culture.
Azerbaijan: Clinton meets bloggers
In Mutatione Fortitudo comments on U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's meeting with youth activists and bloggers in the oil-rich authoritarian country. Although reportedly raising the issue of imprisoned video blogging youth activists Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli with the Azerbaijani authorities just days before the first anniversary of their...
Bosnia & Herzegovina: 18th Anniversary of the Bikavac Fire
Café Turko writes about last Sunday's commemoration of “the 18th anniversary of the Bikavac fire, in the town of Visegrad in Eastern Bosnia”: “On the night of 27 June 1992, around 70 persons were locked in a small house on the Bikavac hill, after which the house was set on...
Russia: Moscow's “Celebrity” Cemeteries
Dina Fainberg of The Dustbin of History posts photos and writes about Moscow's cemeteries “designated specifically for cultural and scientific elite and former leaders.”
Ukraine: Ceramics Festival and Farmers’ Market in Opishne
At The Uncataloged Museum, Linda Norris posts photos and writes about her visit to the National Museum of Ceramics in the village of Opishne in the Poltava region, and at her other blog, The Pickle Project, she posts a photo report on some of the produce sold at the local...
Belarus, Ukraine: Chernobyl Evacuations, Exclusion Zone
Chernobyl and Eastern Europe writes about the Polesie State Radiation Ecological Reserve in Belarus, and cites Soviet-time evacuation documents, listing numbers of people who were evacuated from the areas close to the Chernobyl Power Plant following the disaster of April 26, 1986.
Belarus: Conscientous Objectors Demand Introduction of Alternative Service
The story of Belarusian conscientious objectors to compulsory military service and their struggle for introduction of alternative civilian service – at BelarusDigest.
Russia, Czech Republic: ‘Prague Watchdog’ Closing
A Step At A Time reports that “Prague Watchdog, the Prague-based North Caucasus human rights NGO and monitoring service, is closing down after 10 years of operation.”
Serbia: Expedition 206 in Belgrade
Reports on meeting, greeting and hanging out with the three members of Expedition 206 in Belgrade – at Belgraded and Life in Retro(bel)grade (here and here).
Ukraine: Greeting Hillary Topless
Ukrainiana posts photos and video of FEMEN's topless appeal to Hillary Clinton, who visited Kyiv last week: “Hillary, help! Hillary, help! No strong woman, no free country!”
Russia: RT's “Peculiar” Russian Lessons
Global Chaos writes about RT's “peculiar” way of teaching their audiences Russian.
Russia: Oil Spills
Grigory Pasko writes about oil spills in Russia at Robert Amsterdam's blog (a GV overview of oil spills around the world is here).
Russia, U.S.: More on the “Spy Ring” Story
More reactions to the “Russian spy ring” story (earlier posts are here and here): Craig Pirrong of Streetwise Professor – here and here; Julia Ioffe at True/Slant; Robert Coalson at RFE/RL's Power Vertical; Sean Guillory at Sean's Russia Blog; Clare Sestanovich at FP's Passport; Irina Filatova at the Guardian's Comment...
Slovenia: LGBT Rights and Politics
Sleeping With Pengovsky writes about homophobia in Slovenia and its political dimension.
Russia: More on LGBT Rights
A Good Treaty writes more on the Russian opposition's stance on LGBT rights (the previous post is here), reacting to Oleg Kozlovsky's statement in response to Sublime Oblivion‘s question about why he feels “the need to forcefully disassociate Solidarity [movement] from support for LGBT rights in Russia.” Austere Insomniac interprets...
Thailand: Alternative care for migrants
Brian Jungwiwattanaporn writes about how groups are adopting informal and alternative care for migrants in Thailand.
Guinea Bissau: Unfair Trading Promotes Poverty
A mini documentary titled Quem Paga? [Who Pays?, pt] featuring the production of cashew in Guinea Bissau – one of the five poorest countries in the world – unmasks the cycle of poverty being fueled by Western consumers, while demanding fair trade to put an end to poverty.
Nuclear energy for Brunei
Nuclear energy is being seriously considered in Brunei, an oil exporting country. The Daily Brunei Resources blogs about the prospect of adopting nuclear energy in Brunei
Brunei: World Cup-free country?
Brunei was listed in an MSN article as one of the World Cup-free countries. The Daily Brunei Resources writes that it is a wrong description of Brunei.
Myanmar: World Cup Reactions
Myanmar has caught up the 2010 World Cup fever. Electricity became stable in the capital, fans get to watch the games for free on state-owned TV channels, bars and tea shops are open during midnight, sports journals have been given the license to print and sell copies daily, and many residents are happy that two dancers in Shakira's Waka Waka music video are from Myanmar.
Caucasus: Blogs & Bullets
Global Voices Caucasus Regional Editor Onnik Krikorian will take part in a panel at a public conference, Blogs and Bullets: Evaluating the Impact of New Media on Conflict, at the U.S. Institute of Peace on 8 July. Co-sponsored by the George Washington University Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication,...