· April, 2010

Stories about Politics from April, 2010

Sudan: On post election violence

  30 April 2010

Sudan Field Researcher Maggie Fick for Enough Said looks at the political tensions underlying four races in the South: “Ballots have been cast and counted in South Sudan, but the potential for post-electoral violence still remains.”

Trinidad & Tobago: Election Issues

  30 April 2010

Both KnowTnT.com and Trinidad diaspora blogger Jumbie's Watch comment on “the resignation of High Court judge Herbert Volney and early retirement of Acting Senior Magistrate Ramraj Harripersad in order to run for political office in this year's General Election as potential UNC candidates.”

Bermuda: Campaign Finance

  30 April 2010

“I agree that political funding in Bermuda needs reform but doubt that our politicians – in any of the three tribes – have the stomach to tackle it”: Vexed Bermoothes thinks it's “because the disclosure of campaign contributions is just scratching the surface…”

Russia: The 2009 Killing of Umar Israilov

  29 April 2010

Robert Amsterdam writes about Ramzan Kadyrov's alleged involvement in the 2009 murder of Umar Israilov in Vienna, and links to C.J. Chivers’ New York Times investigative piece, whose opening paragraph has reminded him of Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried, a collection of Vietnam War short stories.

Russia: More Commentary on Sex Video Scandal

RuNet Echo  29 April 2010

A Good Treaty comments – here and here – on the sex video scandals involving members of the Russian opposition, notes an increase in blog traffic (“nothing brings visitors to a website like the promise of nudity”), and responds to Julia Ioffe‘s Foreign Policy piece on the scandal.

China: The 42th anniversary of Lin Zhao's death

  29 April 2010

Lin Zhao (林昭), a Peking University student, was arrested in 1960 during the Anti-Rightist Campaign launched by Mao Zedong in 1957 and sentenced to death on 29 of April (today) in 1968, 42 years ago at the age of 35. She could have exchanged for her freedom and life by...

Thailand: Online censorship amid protests

  29 April 2010

As Red Shirt protesters in Thailand continue to press their demand for the resignation of the Prime Minister, the government is also doing everything to weaken the protests, including the use of emergency powers to block TV stations, community radio stations, and websites that broadcast “subversive” stories.

Ukraine: Chaotic Ratification of the Gas-for-Fleet Deal

  29 April 2010

Below is some of the Anglophone blog commentary on the ratification of the Ukrainian-Russian gas-for-fleet deal, which took place in a chaotic environment on April 27 in Kyiv. Among other things, security guards were forced to employ two umbrellas to shelter the parliament speaker from the eggs hurled at him by opposition members.

Trinidad & Tobago: Checking the Facts

  29 April 2010

KnowTnT.com‘s Edmund Gall thinks “it would be nice if a couple professional journalists in T&T could produce a weekly fact-check column for the duration of the elections.”

Cuba: It's the Economy

  28 April 2010

“You can count on one hand the number of foreign investors who have kept their businesses in Cuba”: Iván's File Cabinet thinks that the Cuban economy is sinking.

Bermuda: Lack of Governance

  28 April 2010

Vexed Bermoothes calls the extension of a hotel's lease to 120 years “stunning”, adding: “This is a failure in governance and in accountability.”

Sudan: We will never know who won the election?

  28 April 2010

Discussing the official results of election in Sudan Muawia Abdel Karim argues that nobody will ever know who really won the election: “The counting of votes has been so chaotic that it is simply impossible to find out the true number of votes cast for each candidate.”