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31 Jan 2011 14:24

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Politics: ElBaradei critical of U.S. calls for Mubarak to start democratic reforms

  • The American government cannot ask the Egyptian people to believe that a dictator who has been in power for 30 years would be the one to implement democracy. This is a farce.
  • Mohamed ElBaradei • The would-be transitional leader of Egypt’s uprising against Hosni Mubarak came out forcefully against U.S. tact on the matter, speaking on CBS’ “Face The Nation.” President Obama and his government have absorbed much criticism over their failure to lend practical and philosophical support to Egypt’s opposition movement, and ElBaradei has given a prominent Egyptian face to these complaints. source

15 Nov 2010 10:25

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World: Aung San Suu Kyi pushing hard for democracy in Myanmar

  • I don’t want to see the military falling. I want to see the military rising to dignified heights of professionalism and true patriotism. I think it’s quite obvious what the people want; the people just want better lives based on security and on freedom.
  • Recently-freed dissident Aung San Suu Kyi • Revealing her hopes for bringing democracy to Myanmar (also known as Burma), which has been led by a military junta for the last two generations. She wants military leadership to end, though. “I think we also have to try to make this thing happen,” she said “Velvet revolution sounds a little strange in the context of the military, but a non-violent revolution. Let’s put it that way.” As you might guess by what she’s saying, she had no conditions set on her freedom. source

13 Nov 2010 14:14

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World: Finally set free, the first thing Aung San Suu Kyi has to say

“People must work in unison. Only then can we achieve our goal. … When the time comes to talk, do not be quiet.” source

17 Apr 2010 11:28

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World: The international community not impressed by Sudan’s election

Either the world community has really high standards, or Sudan has really low ones. Here, a bunch of Sudanese look at some confusing sheets of paper. source

12 Apr 2010 09:55

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World: Sudan’s historic elections smoother on day two than day one

See the dude in white? He’s Omar al-Bashir, the man who benefits least from democratic elections in Sudan. In this photo, he’s voting. Hm. source

11 Apr 2010 11:42

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World: Election Sunday: Hungary, Sudan get to pick new leaders today

24 Dec 2009 23:47

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World: Top Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo jailed for “subversion”

  • 11 years for the freedom-pushing political activist source
 

15 Jun 2009 00:31

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Politics, World: Iran’s election crisis has made at least some things clear

  • Mr. Ahmadinejad’s victory has the merit of clarifying the situation within the Islamic Republic. The choice is now between a repressive regime based on a bizarre and obscurantist ideology and the prospect of real change and democratization. There is no halfway house.
  • Conservative commentator Amir Taheri • In a column for the Wall Street Journal, where he points out how Iran’s election has made the line between democracy and sorta-democracy clear. In other words, sorta-democracy doesn’t exist. Taheri ends his column by saying, regarding Ahmadinejad and his hard-line approach to victory, “hubris may turn out to be his undoing.” Hopefully it isn’t ours. • source

02 Jun 2009 22:39

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Tech, World: Just in time for Tiananmen’s 20th anniversary, China blocks stuff

  • Most noticeably, anyone who lives in China and uses Twitter can’t use it right now, as access to the site has been blocked. So is Flickr and Hotmail. Basically, China is closed to Web 2.0. source
  • On top of that, China is blocking foreign news reports about the pro-democracy massacre, which they’ve been very careful to block from the public. They want to stop activists. source

16 Apr 2009 21:19

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World: India’s got so many people, a democratic vote is ultra-daunting

  • 714 million people are eligible to vote in India, which sounds like a giant mess waiting to happen. Turnout as high as 86% is expected. source