Stories from 7 July 2011
Russia: Anglophone Russia Watchers’ Blogs
The Kremlin Stooge reviews and ranks “Russia watchers'” English-language blogs; Sublime Oblivion interviews Mark Chapman, the blogger writing The Kremlin Stooge.
Russia, U.S.: RT and American Media
Mark Adomanis of Forbes’ The Russia Hand writes about RT, a Russian TV news network previously known as Russia Today, and the American media.
Russia: Fewer Conscripts From North Caucasus?
On Jamestown Foundation Blog, Valery Dzutsev writes about what appears to be a decrease in North Caucasian draftees in the Russian army: “It thus seems that a separation of Russia and the North Caucasus is already underway, even though officially it is still a semi-taboo topic in the country.”
Russia: Chechnya's Police Bosses; al-Zawahiri and North Caucasus
In Moscow's Shadows writes about changes in the leadership of Chechnya's interior ministry, and about changes in al-Qaeda's leadership and the little if any impact it may have on the North Caucasus.
Russia: Women's Rights
Miriam Elder writes about the situation with women's rights in Chechnya.
Armenia: Eurovision Choices
Unzipped: Gay Armenia says that while many outstanding issues still remain to be resolved in terms of Armenia's participation in next year's Eurovision Song Contest to be held in estranged neighbor Azerbaijan, the country's entry should not be political. However, the blog warns, the two choices said to be under...
India: Health Minister Stirs up Gay Sex Controversy
India's Health Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, has stirred up controversy and angered the gay community and gay rights activists with his recent comments at a HIV/AIDS conference in New Delhi. He was widely quoted in mainstream media as having referred to homosexuality as "unnatural" and a "disease" that had come from the West.
Iran: A Blogger's life in danger
Hossein Rongahi‘s father says that his son's life is in danger. Hossein is a jailed blogger who needs urgent medical care. He was sentenced to 15 years of prison.
Recent Cases of Journalists Killed in Honduras and Mexico
The Knight Center's Journalism in the Americas blog reports on the latest killings of journalists in Mexico and Honduras.
Latin America: Blogging About the ‘2011 Copa América’
Blogger ‘Marsares’ is covering the 2011 Copa América for equinoXio [es], providing analysis about each football game. Argentina (the host), Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela are participating in this edition of the South American football tournament.
Caribbean: West Indian Immigrants
The Caribbean Camera reports that of the 245,000 Caribbean immigrants to Canada, the largest populations [were] from Jamaica followed by Haiti and then Trinidad and Tobago.”
Trinidad & Tobago: A Space for Art
Pleasure looks at the work of Trinidad and Tobago-born artist Karyn Olivier.
Jamaica: The Power of Social Media
Diaspora litblogger Geoffrey Philp “woke up this morning to the true meaning of social media.”
Cuba: Twitter Truce
“The exchange started cold, with scorched looks and the logical suspicion between persons who reside in a nation where debate of opposite opinions is a rare bird”: Iván García blogs about TwittHab, “the first encounter between official and alternative ‘twitterers’ [where]…both groups could look face to face and even exchange...
Bermuda: Corruption in Motion?
As news breaks that the former Premier plans to open a new health agency with “the consultant who coordinated Dr Brown’s trip to India last year”, New Onion asks: “How is this not corruption?”
Russia: Interviews With Author Daniel Treisman and Filmmaker Maria Yatskova
For New Books in Russia and Eurasia, Sean Guillory of Sean's Russia Blog interviews author Daniel Treisman on his book The Return: Russia’s Journey from Gorbachev to Medvedev and filmmaker Maria Yatskova on her film Miss Gulag.
Serbia: “Interesting Buildings” of Kragujevac and Majdanpek.
Nothing Against Serbia: A Virtual Notebook writes about “interesting buildings” in Kragujevac and Majdanpek.
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Photos of Sarajevo
Piran Café has visited Sarajevo and is now beginning to post photos from the trip: a series of timelapses is here, more photos – at Flickr.
Serbia: A Documentary on Belgrade's 1990s Rock Scene
Belgraded.com posts a subtitled version of Ghetto – the Secret Life of the City, a documentary about Belgrade's alternative rock scene “of the worst period in the nineties, when turbo-folk became the way of life in Serbia.”
Belarus: An Overview of Political Situation
At OpenDemocracy.net, an overview of the situation in Belarus, by Janek Lasocki.
Russia: Prison System
Svetlana Reiter's text on Russia's “dead end prison system” -at OpenDemocracy.net.
