Stories from 23 May 2009
Ukraine: Russian Ads; PM's Hairdo; Crimea
Russian ads in Ukraine; Yulia Tymoshenko's hairdo; labor minister's text message interaction with her daughter regarding a government job offer for her father; the Crimean Tatars’ situation and the mess in the Crimean capital's city council – at Ukrainiana.
Russia: Foreign Pirates on Torrents
Profy reports that “more than a half (52%) of all the visitors to all the web resources in the Russian internet segment are foreign pirates who rush to the local web resources looking for free content that is easily available on the popular Russian torrents.”
Russia: “Best Designed Russia Blogs”
Sublime Oblivion rates a number of “Russia-watching” blogs by their design.
East Timor: Dili stops on Friday mornings for cleaning
There is a new compulsory activity in Dili every Friday morning: the city stops to clean up the public spaces. Wiernie Walshe tells us about it in a guest post called “Limpeza Geral. Or, sweeping dirt by force“.
Bahrain: Our Need For Indians Is Like Our Need For Air
Earlier this month, Bahrain announced that it would be ending the system of sponsorship of foreign labour. While the move is intended to stop the exploitation of workers, especially from the Indian subcontinent, for some Bahrainis the idea of it becoming easier for foreigners to work in the country is worrying. In this post a blogger talks about the Indian presence in Bahrain.
Kuwait: Cinema Censorship, Quality Woes and Limited Telecom Services
Following the Kuwaiti elections and all the previous political drama, bloggers are now focusing their energies on entertainment and technology posts, with Cinescape, the Kuwaiti national cinema company monopoly, taking the brunt of the criticism from younger viewers due to quality control and censorship woes. Also in this post, a blogger laments the limited telecom services available in the country.
Morocco: Therapy Abroad, Apathy at Home
The global economic downturn seems to be affecting tourism worldwide, a sector upon which the Moroccan economy is heavily dependent. The north African kingdom has launched a wide campaign to polish its image abroad and attract more travelers. But what is the reality on the ground, as local elections approach, as reported by Moroccan bloggers?
Egyptian Tycoon Sentenced to Death
Egyptians witnessed the most unexpected verdict in the history of their judiciary system: Billionaire Hesham Talaat Moustafa, along with his hired hitman Mohsen El Sokary, have both been sentenced to death for their roles in the murder of Lebanese singer Suzanne Tameem. The gruesome murder took place in Dubai, UAE, and Thursday's sentence was met with shock and bewilderment as the blogosphere comes to terms with the verdict.
Korea: The Death of the Least Corrupt President in Korean History with the Corruption Scandal
Roh Moo-hyun, the previous president of Korea, died today. Suffering from the bribery scandal and investigation from the prosecution authority, the previous president who tried to live a quiet life in his hometown after his governance jumped off of a mountain behind his house. Without any clear evidence of bribery,...
Korea: North Korea cancels all contracts with South Korea at the Kaesong Joint Industrial Complex
North Korea cancels all contracts with South Korea at the Kaesong Joint Industrial Complex. There are several posts about this news in Korean blogs.
Pakistan: Local Resistance Against The Taliban
CHUP! – Changing Up Pakistan informs that the local tribesmen near Swat Valley are forming militias (lashkars) to prevent the Taliban influence in the region. Earlier the Talibans executed many tribal leaders to weaken the domestic resistance against them.
Iran: Face Book and Twitter got Filtered
Several Iranian sites and blogs such as demokracy reported that Face Book and Twitter got filtered in Iran.Ghomar,says [fa] President Ahmadinejad wants to beat his rivals in the presidential election and they are much more present than him in the world of internet including Face Book.
Armenia: Belated election blogging
Unzipped says that the incumbent Mayor of Yerevan, Gagik Beglarian [AM], has started blogging ahead of next week's municipal election in the Armenian capital. However, the blog wonders why the blog has appeared only a week before the potentially controversial vote, but also says that with comments so far heaping...
Malawi: Presidential Elections Results At a Glance
African Elections Project posts Malawi Elections 2009: Key Presidential Results at a Glance.
Lithuania: Election Roundup
With a Grain of Druska writes that in Lithuania, “it is time for a younger, more energetic leader.” Eternal Remont mentions president-elect's karate skills: “[…] who wants to see the judo master Putin go against the black belt Grybauskaite in an ultimate fighting match?” More updates – at Lituanica: Dalia...
Russia: Eurovision Roundup
In Moscow, Eurovision coincided with this year's Night of Museums (IZO) – and with an attempt to hold a gay pride parade, which was interrupted by riot police (Robert Amsterdam's Blog). Some more thoughts on this year's contest – at Foreign Policy Association's Russia blog.
Russia: Spiderman in Moscow
A sighting of Spiderman in Moscow – by IZO, via LJ user mrparker.
Japan: NHK says no to Takafumi Horie on backstage YouTube video
Former Livedoor chief Takafumi Horie wrote on his blog that NHK, Japan's national public broadcasting organization, rescinded their request for an interview when Horie stated as his terms the right to videotape the interview and upload it on YouTube. Keita Akai is not surprised, saying that for NHK, allowing unlimited...
Malawi: Malawi Election Coverage Using ICTs
A video from PenPlusBytes about using Information and Communication Technologies to cover Malawi Elections 2009.
South Korea: Roh Moo-hyun dies
Todd Thacker from Ohmynews International reported about South Korea former president Roh Moo-hyun's sudden death. Western media mostly assumed that Roh had committed suicide because of corruption scandal.
Zambia: Final thoughts on HIV discrimination case
The postponement of HIV discrimination case in Zambia is surprising: So the only reason for the postponement was that the lawyer assigned to the case from the Attorney-General’s office was unable to come to Livingstone from Lusaka for the trial today. A few reasons why I find this surprising. First,...
