Stories from 17 August 2011
Serbia: Dramatic Return of the Chetniks
Carl Savich of Serbianna writes about the 1942 radio play, Treasury Parade, starring Orson Welles, and how it glorifies the Chetniks’ struggle against Nazi occupation during the Second World War.
Latvia: Uncertain Election Outcome
Veikko Spolitis of Baltic blog discusses the uncertain political situation in Latvia subsequent to the 23 July referendum resulting in a call for new parliamentary elections on September 17, where a third of the electorate is undecided whom to vote for.
Uganda: Minister Claims Opposition Using Social Media to Prepare for War
Uganda’s Minister for Security claims that Ugandan activists are using Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to wage a campaign against the country's security forces and to prepare young people for war.
Lebanon: Thousands of Old Photos of Lebanon
Lebanese blogger Rami at +961 posts about his new finding: Thousands of old photos of Lebanon and the Middle East.
Lebanon: Racism in Banks
The Terrorist Donkey posted a new story[Ar] about racism in Lebanon. This time it happened in a very well known bank where they refused to open an account for a man from Nepal.
Lebanon: New Migrant Center Opening in Beirut
Lebanese blogger and Nasawiya activist Nadine shares some exciting news for the migrant communities in Lebanon: their Migrant Center is in the final stages of opening and it needs your help. Read all about the details in her post.
Tunisia: More Protests, More Police Violence
Protesters are back on the streets of Tunis and other Tunisian provinces calling for immediate reforms and the establishment of an independent judiciary capable of bringing corrupt officials and the killers of the “Revolution Martyrs” to justice. Afef Abrougui summaries citizen media reactions in this post.
Online Gaming Hackers, North Korea's Next Major Income Source.
Edward Castronova from the Terra Nova commented on allegations that North Korean army of online gaming hackers have breached the servers of popular South Korean online gaming sites to raise badly needed cash.
China and Hong Kong: Citizen Arrested for Wearing Political T-Shirt
A Hong Kong man was dragged off and detained yesterday because of the T-shirt he was wearing. The incident happened during a visit to the city by China's future premier Li Keqiang. Today, local bloggers are demanding answers to several questions, starting with concerns over the sanctity of Hong Kong's laws.
China: Xinjiang Ketchup
Xinjiang produces more than 70% of all China’s tomatoes and China accounts for a quarter of all global tomato output. As Josh from Xinjiang: Far West China points out next time you squeeze that little packet of ketchup onto your greasy french fry for lunch, think of Xinjiang.
China: The Xinhai Revolution and Tibet
High Peaks Pure Earth translated Tibetan Chinese blogger Woser's recent blog post about the political implication of Xinhai Revolution to Tibet by comparing the fate of Tibetans with Mongolians and Uyghurs.
China: Wedding bikes
DongXia He from China Hush has translated a light hearted story about a wedding in Sichuan. In the wedding, the groom rode the bikes with 18 of his friends to pick up his bride.
Indonesia: ‘Insensitive’ Ramadan video ad?
Unspun blogs about a Ramadan video message of an Indonesian TV station TVOne which has become controversial because of criticism that it used religion to advertise a product.
Croatia: “Peka Time!”
Zagreb Diaries writes about peka, a Croatian way of slowly baking food “in a cast iron pan that is covered with a cast iron lid, and then covered in hot coals.”
Hungary: Hate Crimes and Double Standards
Hungarian Spectrum writes about the Hungarian authorities’ dubious ways of dealing with what by all accounts appear to be hate crimes against the Roma.
Russia: 20 Years Since the Putsch
Putin Watcher writes about the Putsch that dealt “the fatal blow to the Soviet Union” 20 years ago.
Indonesia: Increased shopping during Ramadan
nrg07 explains the seeming paradox of the rise in shopping and the prices of food and clothes during the holy month of Ramadan in Indonesia.
Bulgaria: Mapping Crime and Electoral Violations
Bulgarian blogger Boyan Yurukov has set up Bulgaria's first Ushahidi-based site, Crime.bg, whose goal is to collect signals of crimes and irregularities, via the site itself as well as through mobile applications, Twitter and Facebook. On his blog, Yurukov explained the reasons [bg] for creating Crime.bg: “1. People's lack of...
Ukraine: Politics, Economy, Euro 2012 and Relations With the West
At OpenDemocracy.net, Sergei Zhadan writes in depth on how Ukraine's political and economic situation affects the ongoing preparations for the Euro 2012 football championship, which is less than a year away. Earlier this month, Iryna Solonenko and Peter Rutland wrote about Western policy towards Ukraine.
