Stories from 18 May 2010
Russia: La Russophobe Interviews Mark Adomanis
La Russophobe interviews True/Slant Russia blogger Mark Adomanis.
Brazil: Ants Protest Insecticide
Ants protest is an artistic video made and posted by attaspp in Vimeo and features a group of ants carrying placards reading “Stop the killing” and crossed out Baygon logos, the brand name for an insecticide. Wish to know how it was done? The Brazilian director has also posted a...
Russia: Berkman Center Experts Visit Moscow
Researchers from the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University visited Moscow and met with local journalist and bloggers at the Moscow State University. Lenta.ru writes about the meeting and the research of Russian blogosphere by Harvard University.
Hungary: Reluctant government handover
Eva Balogh of Hungarian Spectrum reflects upon the reluctance of opposing sides in Hungarian politics to deal with each other in the handover of power after the recent parliamentary elections.
Belarus: State sanctioned homophobia
Andrei Khrapavitsky of Belarusan American Blog compares homophobia in Belarus with that in Lithuania after an LGBT-march was quashed in Minsk last weekend while being allowed in Vilnius.
Belarus: Lukashenko grants Bakiyev sanctuary
Yaraslau Kryvoi of Belarus Digest comments on the sanctuary given to ex Kyrgyz president Bakiyev by Belarus president Lukashenko, and the implications this might have in relations between Minsk and Moscow.
Iran: Students challenge Ahmadinejad again
Hundreds of students from Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran protested against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to their own university on May 10th. Hamid Tehrani reviews some videos uploaded on YouTube of the protests in this post.
Pakistan: Rising Up
Pakistani blogger Azface at Lahore Metblogs wonders what it will take for the common Pakistanis to rise up against the establishment: “It seems the vicious cycle of ignorance, religious dogma and fear of the unknown has dulled our minds and seriously weakened our resolve.”
Côte d'Ivoire – Ghana: Friends and Foes at World Cup 2010
Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana will be the two nations representing the West African region at the World Cup 2010 in South Africa. For the first time, the World Cup will be hosted on African soil and therefore will provide tremendous incentives for African nations to excel on the brightest of...
Iran's Kurdish cities in strike in protest against executions
Life came to a standstill in several Kurdish cities in Iran as businesses and shops went on strike on Thursday,May 13th, to protest against the execution of four Kurdish prisoners. While mainstream media ignored the protest, citizen journalists recorded the rebellious act in photographs and video footage.
Egypt: A day in Alexandria
Andrew Heiss, American student doing his Middle East Studies at the American University of Cairo, described his day trip to Alexandria with his family. He also shared pictures of the places they visited.
Trinidad & Tobago: Do So!
Pleasure highlights the different ways in which to “do so” in Trinidad and Tobago's upcoming general election.
Barbados: Paying for Corruption
Allegiance blogs about “the Auditor General’s report that highlights the depth to which corruption has reached in Barbados.”
Trinidad & Tobago: Keeping Promises
KnowTnT.com asks: “What methods do we have in T&T to hold the winning politicians to their campaign promises after 24 May 2010?”
Jamaica: Extradition to go forward
Jamaican bloggers are keeping a close eye on developments surrounding the extradition of Christopher “Dudus” Coke to the United States.
India: Twitter Fan Frenzy
Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar recently created a fan frenzy by joining Twitter. “Within the first 24 hours, he got almost 80,000 followers,” reports Gauravonomics. Sachin has more than 300,000 fans now.
Trinidad & Tobago: LGBT Issues
gspottt notes that “of the almost 100 candidates [in the upcoming Trinidad and Tobago general election]…the People’s Partnership candidate for St. Ann’s East…is the only one to date to make positive references to sexual orientation on a campaign platform.”
India: Opting Out Of Facebook
Indian diaspora blogger Selvakumar Ganesan, who blogs at The Scientific Indian, has completely and permanently deleted his data from Facebook. Learn how and why.
Iran: “Panahi, Iranian filmmaker started hunger strike”
Several bloggers such as Rahe Sabze Omid says [fa] that Iranian famous filmmaker, Jafar Panahi, started his hunger strike in prison in Tehran on Sunday.
Pakistan: The Draw Mohammed Day Controversy
A controversial Facebook campaign called “Everybody Draw Muhammed Day” has irked many Muslims across the world. This has also caused an uproar in the Pakistani blogosphere and many bloggers are questioning the motives, the necessity and the hypocrisy behind this initiative.
Jordan: Israel denies Noam Chomsky entry
American professor Noam Chomsky has been denied entry in to the West Bank by Israeli authorities – Black iris of Jordan comments.