Stories from 7 December 2010
Malaysia: Politician wants to ban Facebook
A member of Umno Supreme Council in Malaysia threatened to petition the blocking of Facebook if it continues to allow the publication of materials that pose a threat to national security.
China: WikiLeaks, North Korea and Internet freedom
Diplomatic cables leaked by WikiLeaks raise the possibility, among other things, of reunification on the Korean peninsula. The US government's response to the cables, meanwhile, raises questions over online freedoms; asks one netizen: "if information that threatens America gets blocked, then what about information that threatens China's security? Why shouldn't China block that too?"
East Timor: A day to celebrate Resistance and Emancipation
Blog Mundorama [pt] recently posted an article by the Brazilian international affairs researcher, Carolina Galdino, about East Timorese “resistance and will for emancipation”. Thirty five years ago today, on December 7, 1975, Indonesia invaded the country and the occupation lasted 24 years.
China: The Chinese Court
British blogger from the black China hand writes down his observation on the handling of a criminal case in a Chinese court. The defendant, accused of robbery, had no lawyer to represent him and he was effectively sentenced to 4 years and 9 months.
East Timor: A dirty capital in a pristine island
Edward Rees, from blog Peace Dividend Marketplace [en], writes about the reasons why Dili, the capital of East Timor, is “terribly dirty” these days: heavy rain storms, a building boom and increased consumption. He points that proper infrastructures still do not exist despite all the international aid and a growing...
Why is China Blocking Wikileaks?
Angry Chinese Blogger tries to explain why did the Chinese government decide to block Wikileaks.
Brazil: The only black woman in a beauty pageant
Cris Rodrigues, from blog Somos Andando [We Are Walking, pt], writes about racial prejudice in a beauty pageant in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, where only one black woman competed among 29 other “white, tall, skinny and straight haired” contestants. She considers that the sample is not...
Poland: Photos from Auschwitz and Birkenau
Greetings from Kyiv posts photo reports from a visit to Auschwitz and Birkenau – here, here, and here.
The Balkans: Angelina Jolie's “Directorial Debut”
Gray Falcon and Srebrenica Genocide Blog discuss (from different perspectives) Angelina Jolie's “directorial debut” – “a love story set during the Bosnian war.”
Russia: WikiLeaks’ Cyrillic Mirror
Anatoly Karlin (@sublimeoblivion) reports that WikiLeaks “gets a Cyrillic mirror at викислив.рф,” an initiative of the Pirate Party of Russia (more info, RUS – here).
The Balkans: Genocide Denial
Greater Surbiton writes about “the bizarre world of genocide denial.”
Ukraine: Debate on Number of Holodomor Victims
Kyiv Scoop writes about the “debate over the number of victims” of Holodomor, the 1932-33 famine in Ukraine.
Russia: Infidelity
A discussion of Julia Ioffe's piece on “how infidelity has become accepted and even expected in Russia” – on Slate.com and on Julia's blog, The Moscow Diaries.
Wikileaks and Thailand
What are specific Wikileaks revelations on Thailand? The most interesting so far cites the case of Russian businessman and alleged arms smuggler Viktor Bout who faced trial in Thailand before being extradited to the United States this year.
