7 May 2008
Stories from 7 May 2008
Russia: Putin Out, Medvedev In
On Wednesday, Dmitry Medvedev became Russia's third post-Soviet president. Bloggers discuss the outgoing president's legacy, the political situation in Russia, and the traffic situation in Moscow on the day of Medvedev's inauguration.
Japan: Death Penalty Broadcast, 53 Years Later
An audio tape recorded 53 years ago of a death penalty execution in Japan, aired by Nippon Cultural Broadcasting on May 6th and and by Asahi television's Super Morning show on April 29th, has triggered conversations among bloggers about the country's death penalty system. The 50-minute audio footage, which features the last moments of one unnamed death row inmate, is the first of its kind to have ever been released.
Georgia: War with Russia?
The South Caucasus has always been a volatile and unstable region riven by ethnic conflict and instability. This is definitely the case in Georgia where tensions with Russia have increased to the extent that the battle of words between Tbilisi and Moscow might yet turn into war over the breakaway and defacto independent [Georgian] region of Abkhazia. The increased tension follows last month's apparent downing of a Georgian drone allegedly by a Russian MiG-29 and reports that Russian troops are being sent to Abkhazia in case of a Georgian attempt to re-take the territory by force. Russia and Georgia are playing brinkmanship again, but this time the consequences are uncertain.
Iraq: Stop the massacre in Sadr City…
… so says Al-Ghad. In the weeks following the high profile attack on Basra by the Iraqi army and its high profile failure something of a low-level war has been going on across Iraq much behind the scenes of the mainstream media. Yet now the situation seems to be coming to a head.































Next time we will be there again :)