Stories from 7 August 2009
Egyptian Blogger Harassed at Cairo Airport (Again!)
Hossam El Hamalawy reports: A month after they detained him at the Cairo International Airport and confiscated his laptop, Blogger Wael Abbas has been stopped again, on his way back from Beirut. Police has confiscated all his CDs, USB and flash memory cards!: “Wael just texted me to say he’s...
Hungary, Ukraine: Illegal Stem Cell Therapy
Last week, four people were arrested in Hungary on suspicion of giving illegal stem cell treatments, some of which were carried out in hotel rooms and private homes around the country. Marietta Le reports on bloggers' reactions to the case.
Trinidad & Tobago: The Cost of Propaganda
“The ultimate stakeholders, the public, must know how much it cost to make propaganda for a project which is ruinous to its health, economy and ecology”: In calling for public access to the accounts of the proposed Alutrint aluminium smelter plant, Trinidadian blogger Rhea Mungal republishes a letter advising against...
Guyana, Barbados: Barbadians First
Repeating Islands reports that The Council for Hemispheric Affairs has weighed in “on the heated dialogue that has ensued after the compulsory deportation of Guyanese nationals from Barbados…”
Trinidad & Tobago: The Spin Factor
B.C. Pires is following the Commission of Enquiry into Trinidad and Tobago's construction sector and notes that: “The legal costs of UdeCott and Calder Hart are being met entirely by taxpayers” and “presumably include full page, self-serving advertisements…that do nothing more than allege the Commission must be biased since it...
Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago: Economic Outlook
In light of Standard & Poor's low financial rating for Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago blog The Liming House predicts: “If economic conditions in Jamaica and the Caribbean get much worse, the country is going to have a hard time meeting its outstanding debts.”
Bermuda: Addressing Inequality
Catch a fire is interested in “what the Government has done, or should do, to address the continuing racial inequalities in Bermuda.”
India: Violation Of Human Rights
Subir Bhaumik comments on the numerous incidents of human rights violations by security forces in Assam and Northeast India: “this must stop if we have to convince the world we are a democracy — merely holding elections does not make us a democracy.”
Pakistan: The Death Of Baitullah Mehsud
Pak Tea House confirms that Baitullah Mehsud, the most feared Taliban warlord was recently killed in a drone strike in the tribal areas of Pakistan along with his wife. Chowrangi points out to several conspiracy theories regarding his allegiance and death.
Japan: Reactions to the Japanese tourist rip-off in Italy
Japanese tourists in Rome are said to have diminished in the last period. Not only the economic crisis but also the bad service that Italian restaurants and hotels provide to the tourists as well as the fear to have their wallet or mobile phone ripped off, have made the Japanese...
Bangladesh: Social Status And Definition Of Sexuality
Delwar Hussain at Unheard Voice informs: “in Bangladesh, how you define your sexuality can depend on class, education and family circumstances.” Read the post for details.
Bangladesh, India: Protesting The TipaiMukh Dam
Along with many Bangladeshis several Indian organizations are also protesting the proposed TipaiMukh Dam in India. BanglaPraxis highlights two of them: Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), Assam writes to Indian PM protesting Tipaimukh Dam and a memo from Society of Activists & Volunteers for Environment (SAVE) of Silchar submitted to...
Fake eggs in Myanmar
Today in Myanmar reports that fake eggs are being sold in some areas in Myanmar. The fake eggs were allegedly transported from neighboring countries.
Brunei retirement age now at 60
The Sultan of Brunei has increased the mandatory retirement age in the country from 55 to 60 years old.
China: Prostitutes more trustworthy than government officials
A startling result of an online survey of more than 3,376 people published by Insight China magazine reveals that China's prostitutes are considered by some to be more trustworthy than its politicians, teachers and scientists! The survey found that 7.9% of the respondents considered sex workers trustworthy, placing them third...
Myanmar: Buddhists Outraged by Actor's Photo
A controversial photo of a Burmese actor and his friends wearing saffron robes was posted on a popular Burmese blog, creating a severe outrage within the Burmese Buddhist community. GV author Tan translates a few Burmese blog posts.
Alex Castro: A liberal, libertarian and libertine Brazilian blogger
In this interview, Brazilian blogger Alex Castro talks about blogs, the prisons which enslave the human soul how he escaped them to live as a libertarian, and of course, about his first novel, already very popular e-book just launched in paper.
Iran: Free Abtahi Campaign
Free Abtahi site is launched to support Iranian leading reformist and blogger, Mohammad Ali Abtahi who has been jailed for about 2 months.
Georgia: Blogger reportedly targetted by Facebook, Twitter attack
CNET's blog carries a podcast report on the denial of service attacks on Facebook and Twitter which apparently targeted Georgian blogger Cyxymu as the first anniversary of the Russia-Georgia war approached.
Iran: “Ahmadinejad a phenomenal politician”
Farhad Jafari, an Iran based writer and blogger, writes [fa] that Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, “is a phenomenal politician and is like a professional chess player…one thing that nobody can deny is that he is one of us (Iranian people).”
Egypt: TE-Data Fair Usage Policy
Egyptian Internet service provider TE-Data started applying what it calls a "Fair Usage Policy," without prior warning. Bloggers and Twitter users react in this post by Tarek Amr.