3 July 2009
Stories from 3 July 2009
Belarus: President Pardons Emanuel Zeltser
On June 30, a U.S. Congress delegation visited Minsk to meet with Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko. During this meeting, members of the U.S. delegation asked the president to pardon Emanuel Zeltser, an American lawyer who, in August 2008, was "sentenced to three years in prison on charges of 'attempted industrial espionage' and the use of fake documents." Lukashenko said he could do it and signed the pardon later that day.
DRC: Goma's Makeover for Independence Day
June 30th marked the 49th anniversary of the Democratic Republic of Congo's independence from Belgium. This year, the official festivities took place in Goma. Bloggers react to this historic anniversary, celebrated in a city that not long ago was a war zone.
Morocco: An Alternative to Iran?
A recent article in the Washington Post has caused quite a stir amongst Moroccan bloggers, as well as on Twitter and in forums. The article, which suggests Morocco as a model for democracy coexisting with Islam to be used in Iran, has been criticized for going too easy on the Moroccan regime, as well as for projecting Western values onto both countries, writes Jillian York.
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Guatemala: For Some Artists, Picasso was Wrong
Some Guatemalan artists are out to prove that Pablo Picasso's quote "Computers are useless. They can only give you answers" is incorrect. For many, computers and the internet are the answers to a lack of spaces and galleries for relatively unknown artists who want to showcase their work to a larger and global audience.
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The Uyghurs: Persecuted Muslim Minority in NorthWest China
Today we take a look at the situation faced by the Uyghur people, a Muslim minority in the Xinjiang region of China, where their culture is being obliterated by the central Chinese government, first because they were deemed separatists and now, after the September 11 attacks to the USA, also as terrorists.
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Next time we will be there again :)