Stories from 9 December 2010
El Salvador: US Embassy Cables Released by WikiLeaks
Mike from Central American Politics has been blogging about the US Embassy cables released by WikiLeaks relating to El Salvador. See posts I, II, III and IV.
Ecuador: Reactions to WikiLeaks
Ecuadorian Twitter users and bloggers are reacting to the main talking points on the content of the cables leaked by WikiLeaks relating to Ecuador.
India: Exploitation Of Contract Laborers
Rashmi Singh at Kafila highlights the plights of the contract laborers who are constructing a new hostel building for Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India.
Nigeria: On NaijaLeaks
Solomon's take on WikiLeaks's Nigeria Cables: “Given these and other realities, I concluded, very simply, that any Nigeria-related cables from Wikileaks, would be big news. But only amongst a minority. The truth is that people like me – Nigerian political observers – would find it interesting and would analyze every...
Uganda: My Country, My Death, My Destiny
Ugandan blogger Tumwikuje writes My Country, My Death, My Destiny: “The conflict I have about my country and my people, our being, our fate, our resurrection and our death is so overwhelming that I am paralyzed by fear, but running on desire.”
Somalia: Photo of the week: Anti-piracy Militia
MyWeku's photo of the week: “Photo of Somalia’s Puntland region’s anti-piracy militia. The militia is funded by an unamed donor nation.”
Zambia: Citizens discuss ex-president's wife acquittal
Zambia’s second president Frederick Chiluba’s wife, Regina, who was last March sentenced to three and half years imprisonment by the lower magistrates court on five counts of failing to account for properties suspected to have been stolen, has been acquitted by the High Court. Mrs Chiluba’s acquittal has attracted a number of comments in two leading Zambian citizen media websites.
Zimbabwe: Geared up for another election
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights launched a report today titled Zimbabwe: Geared up for another election. The report is a follow up to another ZHLR report titled Will there be free and fair elections?
Oman: A Blogging Pioneer Tells His Story
Blogs in Oman, as in other countries in the region, are somewhat less popular than internet forums, but there has been a growth in blogging in recent years. Global Voices has spoken to Muawiyah Alrawahi, a young blogger who has been encouraging Omanis to blog and to create public debate in their country, with the argument that “the issue that we don’t discuss is the issue we won’t solve”.
Haiti: Unrest Takes Hold
As the debacle over election results continues, Haitian bloggers discuss the mounting unrest in the country, which further complicates efforts to deal with the cholera epidemic.
Cuba: Social Tension
“A sociologist who was consulted explains that increases in social tension and discontent which have recently occurred on the island are caused by unemployment, lack of any future, and high taxes on self-employment”: Iván's File Cabinet calls the situation “a time bomb with incalculable consequences.”
Trinidad & Tobago: Property Tax
“At this point in time, the nation’s budget is running at a deficit for the third successive year and the Minister of Finance is tasked with developing new sources of revenue”: Afra Raymond thinks “it is time to return to the question of property tax.”
Cuba: Public Health System
Octavo Cerco wonders whether “the government will manage to fix the debacle that has been steadily building in public health.”
Barbados: Stabbing Death
Barbados Free Press has the most recent update on the murder of a senior citizen.
Jamaica, Haiti: Democracy & Elections
In looking at the fallout over the Haitian elections, Jamaican diaspora blogger Dennis Jones says: “The search for democracy is more than about having free and open elections. People have to have a certain disposition.”
China: Messages for Liu Xiaobo as Peace Prize Ceremony approaches
Activities are now underway in Oslo, Norway, as the city gears up for Friday's Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony; back in China, where this year's recipient sits in prison, there's virtually nothing to be seen online. Except for a clever endeavor by Amnesty International, however; that and more after the jump.
Russia: Soccer Fans Block Moscow Streets in Protest Against Murder
Corrupcia.net, bb-mos, podkradyha, and harfang83 share pictures of the soccer fans blocking Leningradskiy prospekt, one of the major Moscow streets, to protest against the murder of their colleague Yegor Sviridov. Killers of Sviridov were released soon after the murder. Most of those who participated in the street action are afraid the...
Iran: “A website developer was sentenced to death”
Saeed Malekpour, a Candaian-Iranian website developer, is facing the death penalty in Iran for allegedly designing “adult” websites. A few Iranian sites wrote Malekpour was the main manager of hard porn Avizoon site and he is not a political prisoner.
Iran:Derakhshan Released On $1.5 Million Bail
An informed source told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that Hossein Derakhshan was released last night on the unprecedented bail amount of $1.5 million. Derakhshan had requested a prison furlough after a lower court sentenced him to 19.5 years in prison in September.
Serbia: Boycott of Nobel Prize Ceremony “Counterproductive”
Viktor Markovic (@Belgrade) tweets that “Serbian boycott of Nobel prize ceremony [is] counterproductive, seems the whole country now knows lot more about Chinese human right violations.”
Brunei International Defence Expo
anakbrunei posts pictures of the Brunei International Defence Expo.
