Archive for
May 31st, 2009
Stories
Syria: Campaign to boycott telecom companies and demand lower rates begins
Image by donknuth
In a extremely connected world, Syria is still lagging behind; The Internet was introduced to the public close to the year 2000 and currently the penetration rate stands at about 17%. The vast majority of users, however, still endure the screeches of a dial-up modem due to the country's weak broadband infrastructure. Cellular networks were licensed to operate in Syria in 2001 and ever since day one, the media echoed the customers' discontent with service rates. The state of the struggling Syrian telecoms sector is largely attributed to the US embargo on the country and corruption within the Syrian telecom bodies.
Syrian bloggers decided they have had enough with the current prices Syrian mobile carriers - Syriatel and MTN Syria) - and the services they offer. The reaction came in the form of a campaign to boycott of mobile carriers on June 1st which was picked up [ar] by the local media.
The campaigners sent out the following message:
قاطعوا الموبايل في واحد حزيران 2009
ساهموا معنا في الحملة الوطنية للضغط على شركات الاتصالات لتخفيض الفواتير أسوةً بالبلدان المجاورة […] ساهم معنا وانشر الخبر ليصل إلى أكبر عدد ممكن
Contribute with us in the national campaign to lobby the telecom companies to lower the bills to become similar to neighboring countries […] Contribute with us and spread the news to reach as many people as possible
Anarchist Queer weighed in saying [ar]:
بالنسبة لي فأنا أقاطع الشركات ليس فقط لأجورها العالية وإنّما أيضاً
لأساليب النصب والاحتيال التي يتبعونها مع زبائنهم, وكنت شاهدة على ذلك
خلال فترة تدريبي في شركة إم تي إن قبل أن أقدم استقالتي.
And on Twitter Salamm said[ar]:
"I Like this Mobile Boycott campaign, and I'm spreading it around (offline) it would've been better if it were for more than one day."
Finally, Somar from Syria Talk said in a reply to a comment:
الموضوع الأهم أنو يحس الشباب أنو نحنا كلنا ايد وحدة..بغض النظر عن الدين والطوائف…لازم نجتمع لنغيير الوضع نحو الأفضل…طالما الأفضل هوي لنا جميعاً
Iran: Khatami answers bloggers' questions
On Sunday, Mohamad Khatami, the former reformist Iranian president, who is backing Mir Hussein Mousavi's candidacy in the Iranian presidential election, took part in an internet TV programme launched by reformists called Mowj4.
Khatami answered questions from the internet, including from bloggers, Facebook members and Twitter. He answered questions on different topics such as the election, foreign policy and the internet. Khatami also said he spends at least one hour a day reading blogs and websites. He also said that although he is not a blogger himself, he loves blogs.
This event was organized by bloggers and most of the questions were read by two Iranian bloggers, Hanif Manzori and Somayeh Tohidloo. Internet users used different tools such as Twitter, Facebook, Email and Yahoo! Messenger to submit their questions. We also can read reactions to Khatami's interview via FriendFeed.
On FriendFeed we can also see that Khatami says establishing a diplomatic relationship with the U.S. should not be a taboo, and that Iranian foreign approaches with Mousavi as president would be different and more rational than they are now. Khatami also stated that the march of the internet is unstoppable, and that it is the government's responsibility to provide appropriate service to population.
Internet in North Korea, Nokia's Ovi Store, Google Wave and Tech Happenings
Internet in North Korea
In a previous story we talked about Egyptian telco Orascom helping launch a 3G mobile network in North Korea. Last week several press reports claimed that internet access is now available on this network. There is a lively discussion on at nkeconwatch.com on just what type of content is available on this network and if the access is to the full internet or is it a limited intranet of sorts. I found one comment by a visitor to North Korea that gives us a glimpse of wider internet in the secretive nation.
Also interesting, a trendy local college girl we met in the hotel bar told us that she used to have Internet at home and that in the 2004-2005 timeframe she had been doing Internet dating. She would find a boy online and have him show up at a public place near her apartment block. Spying on him from above, if she didn’t like the way he looked, she would not come out to meet him. The Internet service was suspended in the 2005-2006 time-frame and she was very unhappy about that. She liked the Internet, regardless of the limited and NK-specific services that may have been available.
Nokia's Ovi Store
Nokia launched it's version of app store called Ovi store. Nokia phone users can now register on this store and buy apps for their mobiles. Tech bloggers are comparing Nokia's attempt to Apple's offering. Medianama, an Indian tech blog compares the usability of Ovi store to Apple's app store
Nokia has a substantial number of handsets in the market, each has its own form factor and operating system. Consumers won’t exactly be pleased when a particular application isn’t available for theirs. That’s where the iPhone App store has an advantage, since it’s the same OS, and just one type of app. In that context, Nokia’s reach doesn’t quite appear to be the advantage one thought it was.
Malaysia Mobile Tech News talks about another challenge facing Nokia app store initiative
However, it is difficult to achieve what Apple has done with the AppStore, simply because Apple didn’t give software publishers a choice when it started selling the iPhone - either sell through the AppStore or via very-limited-reach third party means (meaning Cydia and the Cydia Store, if you’re familiar with the iPhone). Nokia didn’t start off this way - every software publisher sold through their own website, or another mobile software e-marketplace, and to force “coerce” them to now come under the Ovi Store to the exclusion of every other avenue is an impossible task. After all, what’s the compelling reason for them to move over to the Ovi Store?
See also: Nigeria now Number 9 on Opera Mini Global Chart
Web Services
While access of any sort is a good news in North Korea, netizens in Vietnam are lamenting the loss of a popular online service - Yahoo 360. Taitran in Vietnam describes the feeling in Vietnam after Yahoo announced that it would be closing the service.
Google was busy at its developer event giving away free Android phones and launching a new product called Wave.
Singapore based elearningpost writes how Wave is more than a groupware application that other vendors are selling.
The Wave is not just another application, it's a whole new way of using online information. If you have not seen the demo yet, you should. The Wave takes collaboration to a whole new level. When I was watching the collaboration demo, I felt the entire experience was more like an extension into multiple minds rather than the 'switch-type' collaboration we see in the likes of Sharepoint and Lotus Notes. The engagement just felt more organic, more emergent, more fun.
Also from Singapore, Rambling Librarian analyzes how Google Wave can be used by librarians to “transform the way we provide Enquiry and Advisory services. Or how we research, collaborate and publish documents”.
Tech entrepreneur Jonathan Gosier at Appfrica and based in Uganda isconcerned about the usability of the product in low bandwidth situations.
Of course, I have to point out that all this real-time communication stuff only matters to the fraction of people on the planet with good bandwidth. Here in Uganda, I’m so glad when an email actually makes it out of the queue that I don’t even bother to think about ‘rewinding’ conversations and dragging and dropping video! In all seriousness, it’s this reduction in basic utility for all users that worries me. Most Google’ products are by-in-large accessible no matter what kind of computer you’re on (except maybe Google Earth). With Wave they seem to be going down a path that might be a little more exclusive in nature. Not a deal-breaker but a concern none-the-less.
See also: The Startups That Rocked UnConference 2009 (Singapore), Indiblogger State of the Indian blogosphere report for May 2009 (India)
Events
Web designers in Vietnam had their WebcampSaigon 1 event that Fresco2.0 describes as a “a dedicated community by designers for designers”. Fresco2.0 has pictures and presentations from the event.
Neighboring Thailand had its Barcamp at the Sripatum university in Bangkok that also attracted technogists from Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Hong Kong. The two day events had people talking about web 2.0, design, databases, content management systems, social media and hardware hacks. Some of the participants stayed overnight at the venue, coding and hacking. The presentations are at the Barcamp Bangkok 3 Slideshare page. Here is one from Kulawat about Agile.
Not every thing was tech though. Vietnamese delegate Huy Zing conducted a Salsa dancing session.
31o5 has a collection of great images from the event.
Earlier in May, Tokyo tech enthusiasts held their Barcamp. Participants gathered at Sun's Yoga office and talked about tech startups in Japan, Twitter, Japanese popular culture among other things. One of the popular session was a demo of Solaris Live USB creator by Hiroshi Chonan. Hiroshi is the developer of this utility that lets PC users try the Open Solaris operating system without going through an installation. In the video below a fellow Sun presenter points out why this live usb creator is important for the distribution of Open Solaris.
Another gadget that you see a lot in Tokyo tech events these days is the Poken. It looks like a USB drive and come in cool designs. You can store your contact information on a Poken and then exchange it with someone else just by placing your Poken next to another one. Here you see attendees at Tokyo barcamp networking with their pokens.
If you are in India, and working on a tech startup, the proto.in event would interest you. Amit Mittal at venturewoods.org writes
What got me excited though is the 3 day bootcamp that Proto.in is putting together. Day one will focus on diving into the business plan you have for the company, and combing through all the fine details. Day two, they teach you and groom you on how best to deliver a pitch (some advertising guys coming in here to help.) Day three, is all about the stage — well known event management company “BuzzWorks” will teach you how to handle yourself in front of the camera, what to do and what not to do when in a public forum.
Sydney tech enthusiasts have also announced a “recession” edition barcamp to be held on the 27th of June. Their new activity this time round is the Think Tank room.
Finally, we have a new idea for a few of the sessions - the Think Tank room. The Think Tank room is a small room with no projector and no tech - just enough room for a small group of people discussing ideas. And what better ideas to discuss than ideas about the future.
See also: Make Tokyo Meeting 03: Where You Can See Future, Magic And Junk In A Place
Go Farm, Young Man! - How Farming in Japan is Changing
For a country that identifies strongly as being historically agricultural people, the landscape of Japan's agricultural sector is bleak, and has been for some time. Simply put, the workforce is rapidly aging and there aren't nearly enough successors. The price of rice has gone down, and structural reform is unlikely with the powerful coop organization Nokyo (農協) and whatever political party is in power. The Tokyo Foundation offers statistics in a report, ominously but aptly titled ‘The Perilous Decline of Japanese Agriculture‘. It starts, of course, with everyone's favorite nogyo (農業 / agriculture) statistic - ‘Japan's food self-sufficiency ratio has dropped below 40%'.
However, the circumstances surrounding agriculture are changing. Farming is undergoing a makeover for better or worse, as covered by Scilla Alecci in ‘Japan: Agriculture the latest trend among celebrities‘. This follow-up post highlights some aspects of that change in an attempt to explore its scope.
Reporting for Duty by flickr user megabn
Farming and Food Safety
Growing concern for food safety is one of the factors that have contributed to this change in the way of thinking. The blog ‘What Japan Thinks' reported last year that ‘food safety worries five in six Japanese‘:
Q2: Which of the following do you strive to do regarding your eating habits ? (Sample size=1,089, multiple answer)
- Buy Japanese products as much as possible 69%
- Pay attention to the date of manufacture, use-by date, best before date, etc 66%
- Buy products with as few additives as possible 51%
- Limit use of prepared foods 25%
- Limit eating out 16%
- Other 3%
- Nothing in particular 6%
Many consumers don't mind paying extra to ensure that their food is 'safe', especially in the wake of an incident in 2008 when dozens were poisoned by frozen dumplings imported from China. In a typical example, Tamagomama lists some reminders in a blog post advising expectant mothers:
多少高くても「安全でいい食品」を買いましょうね。
できれば「生産者」の顔が見えるモノにしてください。
輸入品は避けましょう。
中国に限らずアメリカなどの食品も。
国産で皆さんの近くでとれたモノがいいです。
生産者の顔がわかるものがベストです。
家族の命をまもるためにも、他人が守ってくれるのではなく、我が身と家族は自分で守りましょう。
Farming and Unemployment
With the economy in steep decline, the government is looking to connect increased agricultural employment as one answer to rising unemployment, especially for temp workers with cancelled contracts.
Nina Fallenbaum reported on her participation in a pilot agriculture-experience program:
Here’s the very simple idea: send 18 to 40-year-old city slickers to rural communities for a free five-day trip to learn farming, meet local people, and perhaps be tempted to adopt that way of life for themselves. Administrated by an environmental nonprofit group, a grant from the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture paid our food, bullet train fare, lodging — everything (and I’m not even a citizen!). Seems extravagant, but compared to the amount of money spent on recent bank bailouts it’s a very cheap form of stimulus — and benefits rural areas, young people, and the agricultural sector simultaneously.
Farming and the Internet
Here are some cases of people harnessing the power of the Internet.
Yasai8313, who produces rare vegetables, uses the Internet to
cultivate sales channels [ja]. Tomato farmer Shinichi Soga succeeded in connecting the popularity of his blog directly to sales, as covered by the Japan Times in ‘Younger farmers blogging their way to success‘. Seebit, a company that produces video content for the Web, runs a website that sells rice. They offer footage from an on-site Web camera so that people can see how the rice is growing. There's a social networking site for all people related to nogyo, Boku-nou (Our Agriculture), which also enables people to buy and sell farming equipment.
Online learning is available as well. Toshihide Muraoka introduced one such example on his blog:
秋田県農業研修センターが運営する「インターネットアグリスクール」が人気を集めています。インターネットを利用して、農業のやり方や秋田県の自然の知識を学ぶことができます。２００１年に開始して以降、東京、愛知、長崎など全国から約２００人が受講し、毎年、定員（３０人）はほぼ満員状態。スクールを通じて農業の魅力に引かれ、これまでに９人の受講生が県内で農業を始めています。
Farming and Other Industries
Companies and organizations in industries unrelated to farming are re-thinking their relationship with agriculture. In one example, marketer and blogger happy-kernel commented on the news that the Kakegawa City Amateur Sports Association in Shizuoka Prefecture is starting an agricultural farm business.
野菜嫌いな子どもたちに、野菜作りを手伝わせることで野菜嫌いがなくなったり、観察力が高まるという指摘もあるように、中年以降、お腹周りが気になり始めた運動不足の肉好きの人たちにとっては、運動を兼ねた野菜中心食へ転換できるきっかけとなるかも知れないのだ。
とすれば、体育協会がこのような試みをすることにも、意味があるだろう。
何よりも参加者にとっては｢新鮮・安心・安全な野菜｣と｢運動＋健康｣が手に入るのだ。
今後このようなアプローチの｢健康作り｣が、注目されていくのかも知れない。
In conclusion
Most Japanese farms are small and family-oriented, and the image of ojiichan and obaachan (grandpa and grandma) tending to their plot of land day in and day out, a typical setting in Japanese folklore, isn't that far from present reality. What will happen next? Where these trends will lead to is yet to be seen, but it's all part of one big and developing wave.
Morocco: Campaigning for the Disenchanted
The electoral campaign for the local council (or communal) elections in Morocco, due on June 12, 2009, was officially launched on Saturday, 30 May. Some 30 parties will compete for 27,000 rural and urban council seats spread across the country over about 22,000 electoral districts. A quota has been imposed on all parties to guaranty a minimum of 12 per cent women representation, whilst the voting age has been lowered from 23 to 21. The government pledged neutrality in the process and declared through its ministry of interior that “all measures will be taken to prevent vote-rigging,” a phenomena that has long plagued electoral processes in the north African kingdom.
Walking in Bernoussi (a neighbourhood in Casablanca), by oNico® in Flickr.
These elections come after an amendment of the so-called Communal Charter that organizes and determines the role of the communes. The reform intends basically -according to some analysts [Fr]- to strengthen the political power of the communes, to reinforce their independence and to increase their accountability. It is way to ensure good governance -at least officially.
The debate seems to be raging over the Moroccan blogosphere about the relevance of the process, participation over boycott, and the balkanized political scene.
Taha Balafrej [Fr], recollects his memories of a similar poll held back in June 1997, only to find out unsatisfactorily, that the obstacles to progress that he detected 12 years ago are still standing on the way:
[C]e pays que nous aimons tant, se trouve empêtré dans une situation délicate. Il est confronté à des défis importants, vitaux. Pour s’en sortir, il a choisi une voie consensuelle. Celle de la construction démocratique. Pas à pas. Jalon après jalon. Pour y arriver, de nombreuses années de formation et d’apprentissage, sont nécessaires. Pour réussir, l’engagement de tous est indispensable. Mais ces bonnes paroles, ces précautions, ces considérations objectives, rationnelles et claires butent sur des logiques négativement manœuvrières, sur des ambitions malsaines. Sur des appareils qui ont des logiques et des visions qui tranchent avec le bon sens.
Disenchanted, El Yacoubi comments on the aforementioned post as follows:
[Ces élections sont] un hypersouk où les voix s’échangent , se vendent , se bradent.
À gauche , comme à droite : des promesses et des billets..circulent , s’entrecroisent , s’affrontent , s’entrelacent et se séparent , avec un sourire entendu et moqueur .
On the 25 May, a new group, calling itself “the Association of Moroccan Bloggers” [Ar], believed to be close to the banned Islamist group of Al ‘Adl wal Ihssane (Justice and Charity), appeared on the blogosphere, calling for a campaign to fight electoral corruption by reporting through electronic means, all cases of electoral fraud that bloggers might encounter. The “manifesto” reads:
حملة تدوينية تستمر طيلة فترة الحملة الانتخابية حتى الإعلان عن النتائج… أهدافها: ترسيخ دور المواطن في ممارسة الدور الرقابي في الشأن السياسي. تسليط الضوء على مظاهر الفساد الانتخابي
التحسيس بخطورة الفساد الانتخابي …
فضح جميع الممارسات المشبوهة التي تواكب العملية الانتخابية ومحاصرة المفسدين. إصدار عمل توثيقي حول نزاهة العملية الانتخابية اعتمادا على تقارير المدونين.
The campaign is vehemently supported by veteran human rights activist and retired politician, now blogger, Abdelkader Alami [Ar]:
إن أي تطور إيجابي في الحياة السياسية والاقتصادية والاجتماعية لا يمكن أن يتحقق إلا بالمحاربة القوية للفساد الانتخابي وقيام مؤسسات ذات تمثيلية حقيقية ومصداقية في تكوينها، وفعالية في أدائها.
Morocco has indeed suffered throughout its 50 years of independence from endemic corruption, not least during electoral processes. Transparency Maroc [Fr], a branch of Transparency International, an NGO committed to fighting corruption, whilst it salutes the creation of the ICPC, the newly founded anti-corruption authority, deplores “the lack of efficient reforms and the persistence at the level of the communes of poor services and infrastructures, corruption and cronyism.”
On a more derisive tone Mounir Bensaleh [Ar], writing on the collective blog Nebrass A'shabab [Ar], explains the ethology of a new species of what he describes as “electoral domesticated animals.” They are a bunch of political opportunists who have become so familiar to Moroccan voters:
أنتجت سياسات الدولة منذ بداية التجربة الانتخابية في المغرب كائنات سياسية مروضة و متمرسة على “اللعبة” السياسية بشروطها المحلية…
ولتسامحني الحيوانات الحقيقية لاستعارتي لأسمها فأنا أكن لها كل الاحترام
… لا تفقه هاته الحيوانات في الثقافة السياسية ولا في التمايز بين المشاريع السياسية. لا يهمها اليمين ولا اليسار ولا حتى الوسط. لا تمتلك برنامجا ولا تعرض تصورات ولا تنافس على أساس معرفة ما. إنها حيوانات لا تأبه بحقوق الإنسان ولا بالديموقراطية ولا بالمؤسسات ولا بدولة الحق …
كونت هذه الحيوانات أموالا طائلة في سنوات كانت الدولة تشتري السلم الاجتماعي بالنقود و الامتيازات…
لا أريد لنفسي و لا لأبنائي أن تحكمنا هاته الحيوانات .
Political domesticated animals know nothing about the political culture, nor about the different political projects. They're not concerned by the left or the right nor even the center. They don't have programs nor do they offer any vision based on any given expertise…
These animals don't care about human rights, democracy, the institutions or the righteous state. They have amassed fortunes for years during which the state bought them off in exchange for social peace…
I don't want, me nor my children, to be ruled by such animals.
Most recurrent themes seem to be apathy, disinterest and often ignorance of electoral issues. This is a sentiment Mohamed Behrani [Ar] blogging on Nebrass A'shabab tried to touch upon:
ولعل ما يحرجني أكثر، هو أن السواد الأعظم من أبناء هذا الشعب لا يفقهون في العملية الإنتخابية شيئاً، كل ما يعلمون أن هناك شخصان أو ثلاتة يتنافسون للفوز بشيءٍ لايهتمون إطلاقا بمعرفته .
This disillusionment stems from deep concerns about the relevance of such electoral process in countries such as Morocco where the power remains essentially centralized.
Throughout the Maghreb, 2009 will definitely be remembered as an electoral year, but as Nawaat, a dissident Tunisian collective blog explains:
Regrettably, these elections –[…]presidential elections in Algeria, Tunisia’s presidential and legislative elections in October, and Morocco’s local council elections in June – attest not to the vibrancy of democracy in the region, but rather to its lingering authoritarianism.
Indonesia: Jailed For Complaining
The case of Prita Mulyasari, a mother of two, is currently the hot topic among Indonesian bloggers. She wrote an online complaint letter [id] against a private hospital in Tangerang, one of Jakarta's suburban areas, and now she is being charged for violating chapter 27 verse 3 of the Information and Electronic Transaction Law (UU ITE) [id].
Prita shared her experience of being maltreated by the hospital on a mailing-list. The hospital took legal action against her. That online complaint may result into six years jail term and maximum fine of 1 billion Rupiah (nearly US$ 98,000).
Erwin Mulyadi shared his opinion on his blog, saying:
Seakan kembali ke masa lalu, kebebasan berbicara bakal kembali jadi hal yang mewah di negeri ini. Salah-salah, apa yang kita bahas di internet bisa dijerat dengan pasal ‘pencemaran nama baik' pada UU Informasi dan Transaksi Elektronik (ITE).
[…]
Peristiwa ini lantas menimbulkan keprihatinan bagi saya, yang mengharapkan bahwa pelayanan apapun (termasuk rumah sakit) harus berorientasi pada kepuasan konsumen. Bahwa saat kritik disampaikan (entah dengan redaksional yang subjektif, gaya bahasa yang emosional dan tidak mengikuti kaidah bahsa hukum yang aman) lantas berbuah penjara, tentu membuat keprihatinan kita semua yang terbiasa menulis di ranah maya ini, termasuk para blogger yang menjadi komunitas jurnalis citizen yang paham benar istilah ‘kebebasan berbicara'. Oke taruhlah apa yang ditulis oleh Prita memang dianggap tidak benar dan penuh kebohongan, apakah reaksi ‘balasan' melalui gugatan ini tidak terlalu berlebihan? Bisa dibayangkan efek psikologis dari peristiwa ini terhadap para penulis yang selama ini kritis dalam ‘meluruskan yang bengkok' dan bisa dibayangkan betapa mudahnya tiap kritikan akan digugat dengan tuduhan : ‘pencemaran nama baik'
This unfortunate event saddens me; I personally hope that any service (including hospitals) should aim to have customers satisfaction. All criticism (whether presented subjectively or written in anger, which therefore didn't follow rules on writing's decency) that caused the writer to be put in jail surely saddens us, who often write in the virtual world and bloggers who are considered as citizen journalists who are aware so much about “freedom of speech”. Let say that Prita, who's said to lie, don't you think that the (legal) response is a bit too much? We can all imagine the psychological effect of the case for writers who are critical in “making things right” and we can imagine how easy criticism is being labeled as “defamation”.
A post on daily social network says:
Sangat disayangkan memang ketika anda mengajukan keluhan di internet, ternyata justru berakhir di penjara. Sedangkan kalau dipikir-pikir di koran-koran terkemuka hampir setiap hari ada saja keluhan terhadap perusahaan ini dan itu dan belum pernah saya dengar ada yang dipenjara karenanya. Mungkin sebaiknya kita lebih baik mengeluh di koran daripada lewat online? Memang sih ada juga kasus penulis surat pembaca yang dipenjara, namun yang ternyata keluhan tersebut diforward dari internet (anonim).
Fakta yang menarik bagaimana orang Indonesia tidak mampu menerima kritik bahkan dari pengguna yang katanya adalah raja. Apapun keluhan anda terhadap instansi apapun, silahkan keluhkan langsung di koran saja dan jangan melalui media online. Keluhan di koran pasti diperhatikan dan dicarikan solusi, keluhan via online akan membawa anda ke penjara.
Apakah ini namanya kebebasan berekspresi? Demokrasi? Sungguh menyedihkan.
Is this freedom of expression? Democracy? How pathetic.
Commission for Human Rights' (KOMNAS HAM) official said[id] that the court is overreacting to use an ITE law to sue a consumer, the commission also said that they're ready to facilitate the victim's family for justice.
Meanwhile, Indonesian Internet users are taking the public advocacy to the country's latest favorite networking site Facebook.
This case came under the spotlight after the Indonesian Supreme Court acquitted the plea for ITE's reassessment.
Another court session for Prita is set for next week.
Links for Sun, 2009-05
Polandian shares “15 things you need to know about Polish weddings – the survival guide.”
Sixty-one photos of Moscow's migrant workers, by Yuri Kozyrev and LJ user kunstkamera - at LJ user burtin's blog (RUS).
Moments of Gaza links to a report claiming to have evidence that depleted uranium was used in the Israeli attacks on Gaza earlier this year.
Iranian news sites and bloggers such as Sahel Salamt reports that Mohamad Khatami, former reformist president, takes part in an internet discussion via Face Book, Twitter and Yahoo Messenger answers questions. The blogger says [fa] it is the first internet experience in Iran where a high- ranking politician answers directly questions.
Collective blog, The View from Fez covers the opening ceremony of the 15th edition of the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music [Fr] in this post. “[O]nce again the Sacred Music Festival began with the arrival of the hugely popular Princess Lalla Salma, who received a standing ovation from the almost capacity crowd,” reports the blogger.
A Chinese businessman, visiting Taiwan as a tourist, was arrested for taking photos of a military facility in Taipei. The Far-Eastern Sweet Potato discusses the security implications. The Foreigner in Formosa comments on how he was released without bail.
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