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Afghanistan: Bombing in Kabul

Joshua Foust · 05:08, July 9th, 2008 · Central Asia & Caucasus

There was a massive suicide bombing at the Indian Embassy in Kabul today, killing upwards of 40 people and injuring hundreds more. Many expats and locals are confused at why the crowds near the Indian embassy—which resides on a pleasant and well guarded street by most accounts filled with bookstores ... 0 comments · »»

Syria: Police Kill 25 in Sednaya Massacre

Razan Ghazzawi · 16:31, July 7th, 2008 · Middle East & North Africa

lingua → mk · fr · de

The Syrian Human Rights Committee (SHRC) announced that a massacre had occurred on July 5 at the Sadnaya military prison, west Damascus. At least 25 detainees had been killed by the Syrian police, according to SHREC that received phone calls from inside the prison during the massacre. The detainees started ... 2 comments · »»

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July 9th, 2008

Afghanistan: Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh Death Sentence Upheld

Joshua Foust · 05:11 · Central Asia & Caucasus

Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh is a journalism student at Balk University in Mazar-i Sharif. He supposedly copied text from an Iranian website criticizing Islam's stance on the treatment of women, and added his own thoughts on the matter—much like a blogger would. For this, the Afghan intelligence services investigated him, ... 1 comment · »»

Afghanistan: Warnings for the Future

Joshua Foust · 05:09 · Central Asia & Caucasus

Joshua Foust notes the number of Afghans warning the West about the country's future. 0 comments · »»

Ecuador: Government Seizes Companies for Debt Collection

Milton Ramirez · 04:32 · Americas

The Ecuadoran government seized hundreds of businesses, including three television channels. Much of the media focuses on the fact that that television stations were targeted, however, the government says that it is a preventative decision in order to collect debts. The Treasury Minister resigned because he did not agree with the seizure, and local bloggers provide their thoughts whether the government was justified or whether it hurts the cause of free speech in the country. 0 comments · »»

July 8th, 2008

Argentina: Students chain themselves demanding a better school

Juliana Rincón Parra · 17:38 · Americas

lingua → es · mk

In the province of Rio Negro near the city of General Roca in Argentina, the students of the CEM 106 are asking the government to follow through with their promises of solving the problems their school has. Videos of the open sewage drains in front of the school, of the ... 1 comment · »»

Japan: Comment about abductions sparks harsh reactions

Chris Salzberg · 15:02 · East Asia

lingua → zht · zhs · mk · fr

LDP member Koichi Kato has sparked harsh reactions from bloggers with a comment he made on July 7th. In the comment, Kato connected the stagnation of Japanese-Korea negotiations with the government decision in 2002 not to return 5 Japanese abductees to North Korea after they had been delivered to Japan by North Korea for what was expected to be a short time. The abductees were among a group of Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korea in the late 1970s and early 1980s. 0 comments · »»

“No Car Day” in Southwestern Chinese City

Kelly Proctor · 10:48 · East Asia

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Last year, Kunming, China took part in “No Car Day” (无车日). Now, the southwestern Chinese city has gone above and beyond by instituting a “No Car Day” every month. Kunming, home to many environmental NGOs, has Car Free Days on the last Saturday of every month. China's Green Beat gives us ... 0 comments · »»

Malawi: Radio Host seeks Help in Blog

Steve Sharra · 10:35 · Sub-Saharan Africa

An 18 month-old radio program that attracted a faithful following in Malawi is in danger of ceasing, thanks to expensive phone rates and limited bandwidth. The program's host, Malawian blogger Victor Kaonga, has made an appeal for the program to find sponsorship and be saved. 1 comment · »»

Armenia: LGBT Blogs

Onnik Krikorian · 10:02 · Central Asia & Caucasus

While most political blogs in Armenia simply duplicate the views of an already polarized media, the voices of those stuck in between, denied access to the airwaves, or who are simply misrepresented, are often ignored. That might now all be changing with the appearance of several LGBT Blogs from Armenia and the Diaspora. 7 comments · »»

Nicaragua: Protesters Pay Visit to Former President

Rodrigo Peñalba · 02:25 · Americas

Protestors in Nicaragua often gather to pay personal "visits" to well-known politicians, including a recent surprise encounter with former president Arnoldo Alemán, who had been convicted of corruption charges and had been dining with his family at a local restaurant. One local blogger documented these encounters on his blog and Flickr page. 1 comment · »»