International journalists at Olympics find net access censored

Web access for international journalists already in Beijing to cover the Olympic Games is being censored, according to media reports.
In addition to sites relating to the Falungong spiritual movement, which is banned in China, some international news websites, as well as websites of human rights organisations, are blocked.
And, guess what? The IOC is backing China [...]

Amnesty’s report about China

An Amnesty report about China says that human rights have gotten worse thanks to the upcoming Olympics, including increased use of “re-education through labour”.
A day later, China rejected the report, accusing Amnesty of viewing it with “tinted glasses”. Liu Jianchao at the foreign ministry in Beijing said Amnesty should “see China in a fair and [...]

Zhongguo Taibei? So much for not politicising the Olympics, China.

Well, so much for not politicising the upcoming Beijing Olympics. Apparently, Chinese officials want to refer to Taiwan’s Olympic delegation as “中国台北” (“Taipei China”, not dissimilar to “Hong Kong, China”), instead of the current IOC standard “中华台北” (Chinese Taipei) that has been in use since 1989.
The former — Zhongguo Taibei — implies that the island [...]

Radovan Karadžić arrested

Just a short one.
Top news today is that former Bosnian Serb war leader Radovan Karadžić — wanted by the International Criminal Court in the Hague on charges of war crimes — has been arrested in Belgrade after 13 years on the run.
What use does this do? On the surface it’s a boost for Boris Tadić’s [...]

Ex-W.H. press secretary Tony Snow dies

Ex-White House press secretary Tony Snow has died aged 53 after a second bout with cancer. He worked in the Bush administration for 17 months, replacing Scott McClellan in 2006.
Reactions have come in from around Washington. CNN reports the following quotes:
Snow’s successor, Dana Perino, issuing a statement for the White House:
“The White House is [...]

Israel and Iran: posturing or something more sinister?

So, Israeli shows off its fighter jets. Iran responds by test-firing missiles twice. Israel unveils new spy plane.
Is this just posturing between old enemies, or is this a very strong warning from both sides that we could be on the brink of a new war, one that involves two states? Does Israel, or does Iran, [...]

CNN’s McCain wish

Hmm…
Simple mistake, or something deeper showing through? CNN obviously wishes Senator McCain was a Democrat…