9 August 2008
Stories from 9 August 2008
Southeast Asia and Beijing Olympics
Close to 200 athletes from the Southeast Asian region are participating in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The big news (as far as the region is concerned) during the opening ceremonies are the exclusion of Brunei during the event and the “improper” waving of the Singaporean flag by the country’s flagbearer.
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MENA: Visas of Fulbright scholars revoked
Earlier this week three Palestinians, recipients of prestigious Fulbright scholarships to study in the United States, had their visas revoked by the US, preventing them from taking up the scholarships. A fourth, a high-school student on a separate programme, was also stopped. Yet two and a half months ago, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had personally intervened to make sure that the grant winners would be able to go. Why the last-minute change of heart? Bloggers from around the Middle East have a number of theories.
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Georgia, Russia: Cyrillic Bloggers React to the Conflict in South Ossetia
In a brief report sent around noon of Aug. 8 from a hotel basement in Tskhinvali, the beleaguered capital of South Ossetia, Russian journalist Mikhail Romanov wrote this about the nature of the conflict: "The city is under heavy howitzer and mortar fire. An endless cannonade. I've seen many wounded people. Peacekeepers are commenting succinctly: 'This is war.'" Below are more reactions from bloggers in Russia and Ukraine.
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Georgia: The Blame Game
With the international media reporting that Georgian forces are now engaged in direct conflict with the Russian military on the outskirts of Tskhinvali, capital of the breakaway region of South Ossetia, the situation still remains tense and unpredictable. Yet, with ethnic separatists claiming 1,400 civilians have been killed, views on the conflict remain polarized and ultimately appear to reflect what some see as a conflict over Russian and Western interests in the region.
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Costa Rica: Cancer Patient Shares His Ups and Downs
A 45 year-old Costa Rican recently started a blog to share his thoughts on recently being diagnosed with lung cancer. The anonymous blogger discusses the difficulties in telling his family and a reflection on the possibility of not seeing his children grow up. His surgery will determine the severity of the cancer, as well as the course of treatment.
Came to find this post after signing the AllOut petition (which already has almost 50k signatures, and needs to grow...
Please sign this if you are pro