Egyptian elections update

Following on from our earlier post which highlighted key news sources- here is an update on where to get observations on the conduct of the elections.
The official website of the Supreme Committee which is overseing the elections for the government
The BBC has a list of the candidates and the latest news stories
in 2011 IFES asessed what was needed for democratic elections to take place. It has followed this up in 2012 with assessments of the state of post-Mubarak Egypt.
The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights covers all aspects ofg human rights in Egypt. Its website includes press releases and reports, It includes coverage of the  Egyptian Coalition for Election Observation which is monitoring the elections.
The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) is an independent regional non-governmental organization founded in 1993 it is heading the Independent Coalition for Monitoring Elections. Its website has reports of media coverage of previous elections.
The Egyptian Association for Community Participation - has coverage in English or earlier election monitoring in 2011/12. It also has reports on Arab spring and repression in Egypt.
Another key organisation is the Andalus Institute for Tolerance and anti-Violence Studies (AITAS). It used a special media mionitoring unit to examine the conduct and coverage of the earlier election phase.

Finally Google News portal on Egypt.

Serbia - presidency round two get the facts.

On may 20th there will be a second round in the Serbian presidency contest.
The key candidates are Boris Tadić see  his campaign website which has its own youtube channel.
Supporters from the Democratic Party.
Tomislav Nikolić information on the Serbian Progressive Party website.
For assessments of the previous stage of the elections see the OSCE Monitoring mission website.
Another organisation which have been monitoring the situation is the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights which has a number of election watch newsletters in English on its website.Recent polls can be seen on the Ezbori website.



Government news can be seen on the Voice of Serbia website.
B92 has more critical news in English about the elections.
The Economist also has some interesting commentary.
Balkan Insight has some free content.
SE Times
Balkan Investigative reporting network.
Beta news agency.
The Center for free Elections and Democracy (CESID) has some results and analysis

Greek elections - where to look for news

This week the Greek elections have made the news. Here are some links which cover their political and economic impact.
The Greek Ministry of the Interior has official results. An icon on the page changes them to English- if required!
The Greek elections portal coordinated by Dr Giorgos [Gkantzias], Assistant Professor, Department of Cultural Technology and Communication, University Aegean. Provides free access to articles from the Greek Politics Journal, plus election results, maps and analysis
OSCE election observations of the conduct. There are also reports from previous elections

News services.
The following have articles and reports.
Athens News Agency- official Greek government
The Athens news service (provides news in English) has a blog covering the elections which will continue to add comment over the next few days.There is also a political news section with comment.
ERT (Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation) extensive comment, plus video clips, polls and interviews.
Kathimerini affiliated with the International Herald Tribune. English news.
Ethnos
Hellenic Lines- Newspaper of the Greek nationalist Front newspaper.
This Google site has YouTube films and debate from parties. plus twitter and news blogs.It also includes social media trends
Phantis - search engine designed to cover sites relevant to Greek Community.

Foreign commentators
New York Times - analysis of politics and economy of Greece
The Daily Telegraph has its own Greek elections Diary
The Wall Street Journal blog has commentary on the economic impact also a useful get started guide.
News about Greece from the Guardian.
Economist
Opendemocracy net has discussion from academic bloggers.
Finally for recent academic discussion and debate see papers and audio, video footage from the LSE Hellenic Observatory.

Who is Francois Hollande?

The new French president is Francois Hollande
but who is he? acording to 20 minutes (from switzerland) he was so unknown in some quarters that he was mistaken for a woman by some journalists! what does he believe? here are some useful sources.
Official campaign site
Tous Pour Hollande more campaign materials
Official twitter - see what he is doing today!
Facebook site
Really useful is the entry in WikiPol from Slate
see also his supporters Repondre a Gauche
His official page at the Assemblee Nationale gives examples of recent parliamentary activity. eg questions asked.
Sister Republic Michael C. Behrent on French Politics has some English pre-election commentary.
Le Monde has articles, analysis and reporting of his activities.
Figaro - also has a similar section.

French presidential elections- this week's key debate

French presidential elections.

This week a key debate. See the coverage on the BBC.

France 2 records the high viewing figures. See some key moments

Daily motion currently has the full version.

For some reaction try Figaro which is scanning social media throughout the campaigns for mentions. And has high and low points for the candidates.

Another interesting social media site has been created by Slate.fr the WIKIPOL is a type of Wikipedia with encyclopedia style entries on the main candidates it has been completed in conjunction with avec Po. More than 1,000 key figures, politicians, advisers are covered. Each entry has biographical information, quotations, details on affiliations, lists of publications.

Also some humour sites (with thanks also to Lucile Deslignères, Librarian, Oxford University Language Centre, for some good suggestion)

Canal plus humour

What wine reminds you of Boris? - humour in 2012 elections

The Huffington Post has published (courtesty of oddbins) a wine guide to the elections!
For more humour see the Cartoonstock website for examples taken from newspapers.
Paul Owen for the Guardian - gives an animated view of the contest
Little Boris - 'Little Boris follows the adventures of a little London boy who struggles a bit with everyday life.' it is illustrated by Robert Stocks
Finally see some singing and video blunders on Guido Fawkes blog.