Stories from 29 August 2007
Chinese cartoon cops patrolling websites
From September, 1st, Beijing’s new virtual cops will be active on 13 of China’s portals, including China’s biggest blog-hosting services, Sohu.com and Sina.com. By the end of the year, the virtual police’s patrols are expected to cover all websites registered with Beijing servers.
Israel: Aids Patients Buried Alive in Papa New Guinea
Smooth Stone from Israel links to a story about how Aids patients are buried alive in Papa New Guinea.
Iran:Crackdown on Professors
Kamangir says according to a new law, all state-run universities are obliged to report any trip their faculty members go to outside the country. The trips have to be reported whether or not they are sabbatical or personal and for pleasure.
Israel: Big Brother Watching You
If you are on the Internet, Big Brother is watching you, warns Batya from Israel.
Jordan: Prohibited Items
Charles Levinson, who lives in Jerusalem, compiles a list of all the items banned on flights from Jordan's Queen Alia's Airport.
Bulgaria: A Wedding
Petya of Bighead writes about her Bulgarian Orthodox church wedding – and “the ability of people to reach across cultural and language barriers.”
Ukraine: Ethnic Russians
Window on Eurasia writes about another way of looking at Ukraine's ethnic Russians and their political preferences.
Russia: Mistreatment of Foreigners
Window on Eurasia reports: “Foreigners working in the Russian Federation are far from likely to be mistreated by government officials and employers than they are to be attacked by skinheads and other Russian nationalist groups, according to a poll of Tajiks now living in Tajikistan with direct experience in the...
Russia: Geopolitical Dreams
Window on Eurasia writes that while some Russians are dreaming of a “Russian Texas,” others offer a scenario of the disintegration of the United States.
Serbia: Kosovo and Other “Statelets”
Steady State writes about Kosovo and the “de facto statelets of Abkhazia, Transnistria, South Ossetia and Nagorno Karabakh.”
Congo: Lack of new work by Black Francophone writers
Alain Mabanckou regrets the lack of new works by Black Francophone writers at the 2007 “rentrée littéraire” in France.
Mali:Abandoned wives and children
Faits Divers d'Afrique relates the fates of abandoned wives and children left behind by men who emigrate.
Albania: A Vacation Report
Marko Bucik spends his vacation in Albania, a country that is “an endless joy” – despite the fact that “there are almost no street names, no mailboxes, few places have drinkable tap water.”
Morocco: 2 Million Blogs Banned
MoTIC (fr) provides us with statistics on Livejournal, which has been blocked in Morocco for over a year, as well as other blocked sites.
Israel: 19th Anniversary
Savtadotty, from Israel, marks her 19th anniversary in the country.
France: The use of the French language in international communication.
The general delegation for the French language and languages in France, a branch of the Ministry of Culture and Communication recently published a report on the use of the French language in the digital world. The objective of the delegation is to promote the use of the French language in...
Iraq: Saudi Bans Al Hayat
Iraqi blogger Ladybird reports that Saudi Arabia has banned pan-Arab Saudi-owned newspaper Al Hayat in the kingdom.
Egypt: Inferiority Complex
D.B. Shobrawy reflects on what he describes as the Egyptian inferiority complex in this post. “..many Egyptians have an inferiority complex in regards to their Egyptian identity. Somewhere in our history during colonialism Egyptians began to believe that European culture was superior to their own, more elegant and prestigious,” he...
Egypt: Moulid Al Haggag
Egyptian Big Pharaoh takes us to the Moulid Al Haggag ceremony, offering us an explanation for the annual event and photographs.
Egypt: Mubarak's Health
Egyptian blogger Zeinobia shares her ideas on Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak's health, treatments abroad and rumours of his death.
Egypt: Is Mubarak Dead?
“I got a call late tonight from a friend asking, “is Hosni Mubarak dead?” I dont quite know where he got his information from but supposedly there is a rumor that Hosni..AKA “the Great Dictator” was airlifted to a hospital in Germany and that his fate is unknown and presumed...
