Stories from 28 September 2010
South Korea: Broadcasting Power Struggle Bruises Korean Viewers
When two giants fight, it is usually an innocent bystander who gets most hurt. That is exactly what’s happening in South Korea’s broadcasting field, with Korean viewers being the bystanders. Some of the paid-advertisements on cable television will be aired as black screens starting from October. As two major broadcasting powers–the terrestrial networks and the...
Russia: Pavlovsk During WWII
More on the history of the Pavlovsk Experiment Station – at Vaviblog.
Azerbaijan: Obama calls for bloggers’ release
Dönməzlik blog [AZ] says that it was surprised to discover that US President Barack Obama raised the issue of Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli, two video blogging youth activists imprisoned on charges of hooliganism by a court in Baku, with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, at the UN General Assembly....
Africa: Thoughts on the world from Africans
African Scene is an online portal designed to provide intelligent commentary and musings on African and international affairs which cannot be shouted out by conventional media nor muzzled by any government…
Tanzania: The Party That Gagged Itself
Elsie writes about election campaigns in Tanzania: “A couple of weeks ago CCM forbade its candidates from participating in political debates. This blanket ban covers presidential, parliamentary and local government candidates and includes private and public media as well as political rallies.”
Nigeria: Nigeria@50 – Why We Celebrate
A YouTube video called “Why We Celebrate” about Nigeria's 50th Independence Anniversary.
Russia: Irkutsk-Moscow Train Travel Notes
Derek of The Kalpak travels for four and a half days on a Russian train – and arrives in Moscow.
Moldova: Gagauz Yeri Photos
Photos from Gagauz Yeri – the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia – at Moldovarious.com.
Hungary: “Roma Reports”
“Roma reports” at Pestiside.hu: a video about a “Roma fashion show” recently held in Budapest; and a Romanian Roma music video that “seems to have… borrowed quite a bit” from a Hungarian Roma music video.
Slovenia: Ljubljana City Council Election
Sleeping With Pengovsky writes about the upcoming election to the Ljubljana city council (an earlier post on the mayoral race is here).
Russia: Moscow Mayor Luzhkov Fired
Notes on the sacking of Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov: before (The Moscow Diaries and FP's Passport) and after (A Good Treaty, The Russia Monitor, Robert Amsterdam, Russia! and Windows to Russia).
South Africa: Do You Know Where Police Are Hiding?
Twitter account that exposes where police are hiding daily in South Africa!
Kenya: Prison Literature in East Africa
Kimani Wanjiru discusses prison literature in East Africa: “Maina wa Kinyatti perhaps has the highest number of books that vividly describe his harrowing experience. He has a collection of poems A Season of Blood: Poems from Kenyan Prison (1995)…”
Iran:Derakhshan sentenced to 19.5 years in prison
According to [fa] Mashregh News Hossein Derakhshan, Iranian jailed blogger, was sentenced to 19.5 years in prison. Read more here.
Bahrain: Unwatchable TV
Mahmood Al Yousif, from Bahrain, is livid that more money is being pumped into Bahrain Television. He writes: “this .. television station must be the most invested in in the history of broadcast and it’s still a completely unwatched and unwatchable station. And when it is watched, on those rare...
Iran:Facebook for Art
Iranian artists have launched Iran's first ever contemporary art competition on the social networking website, Facebook.
Morocco: Human Rights Activist Arrested for Buying Alcohol
“The well-known Moroccan activist Abdullah Zaazaa was arrested in his Casablanca neighborhood of Bouchentou, for buying alcohol during Ramadan,” writes Ursula Lindsey at The Arabist.
South Africa: Self-regulation amongst bloggers
Read Guy Berger's analysis of self-regulation amongst bloggers in South Africa.
Egypt: The US, Sharia Courts and Hysteria
Issandr El Amrani, from The Arabist, shares his thoughts on Islamophobia, Sharia courts and hysteria in this post.
Egypt: The Proposal
Miss SunShine, from Egypt, writes about a marriage proposal here.
Kuwait: Earthquake Question
From Kuwait, Mark asks: “Did anyone feel an earthquake around 2:25PM?” He adds: “Looks like an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.7 hit near a city called Kazerun in Southern Iran.”
