Stories about LANGUAGES from November, 2009
UAE: .il unblocked?
samuraisam, from the UAE Community Blog, asks: “Has anyone else found the Israeli TLD to be unblocked from the UAE? On my Etisalat connection it seems to be open.”
UAE: Call for Action
UAE blogger An Emirati's Thoughts calls for action following the “recent slump in the confidence in Dubai's debt management capabilities.”
Yemen: An Architectural Gem
Yemeni Omar Barsawad shares with us information on the Yemeni capital San'aa. “Be it in Sana'a Old City or the mud bricked houses of Hadhramout, Yemen's architecture remains very much traditional and unique. And is still being preserved in most parts of the country,” he notes.
Chile: Council Rejects Giant Pope Statue in Santiago
The proposed construction of a giant statue of the late Pope John Paul II that was to be placed in a square of the capital city Santiago, was rejected by Chile's National Monuments Council.
Yemen: The Greatest Journey
Yemeni Omar Barsawad reflects on Hajj, the fifth pillar of Islam.
Jordan: Brass Award for The Black Iris
Naseem Tarawnah's The Black Iris won the Brass Crescent award in the Middle East category for the second year in a row.
Bolivia: Citizen Coverage of Upcoming Election
A group of Bolivian bloggers have put together a site called Elecciones 2.0 Bolivia [es] which will provide citizen coverage of the upcoming general elections to be held on December 6.
Ecuador: Carlos Vega Book
In Ecuador, Eduardo Varas reviews the most recent book written by Carlos Vera [es] and its place in the current conflict between the government and the press.
Kyrgyzstan: Water Management
Misha reflects on the problems of water management in Central Asia against the background of the news about glacial retreat in Kyrgyzstan.
Afghanistan: Empowering trading potential
Sanjar shares his idea of creating opprtunities for market linkages between small entrepreneurs, shopkeepers, sellers and businesses in Afghanistan via the use of mobile technologies.
Russia: How Passengers of “Nevsky Express” Tell Their Stories Through Social Media
The crash of the "Nevsky Express" train happened far from any major populated area. It took several hours for reporters to arrive on the spot. Only then the first photographs and videos started to appear everywhere. But what happened to citizen reporting that led the way in the coverage of the plane crash in Russia a year ago?
Russian authorities stop application process for domains in new .РФ zone zone
The Russian Coordination Center for the new national Cyrillic domain .RF stopped the application process for new domains. Anti-cybersquatting measures turned out to be infective and the center plans to review the rules of submission process, Russian news agency Prime-Tass reported [RUS]. It's not clear what will happen to the...
Hungary: Violence “Behind Doors”
This month, Hungarian NGOs joined the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign. Marietta Le describes the situation with domestic violence in Hungary and translates one blogger's post on the subject.
Bangladesh: Hijra Dance Festival
Ashok Deb at LGBTI Bangladesh blog posts videos of a Hijra dance Competition in Dhaka.
Namibia: Polling ends, counting begins
Namibia Presidential and National Assembly 2009 has come to an end, African Elections Project reports.
Barcamp Singapore 4
Check out the pictures and presentations of Barcamp Singapore 4
Philippines: CNN Hero of the year
Pedestrian Observer praises Efren “Kuya Ef!” Penaflorida Jr. from the Philippines for being the 2009 CNN Hero of the Year.
Cambodia: End of first Khmer Rouge Tribunal deemed a relative success
Many in the international community are calling the first Khmer Rouge Tribunal trial of Kaing Kek Iev, or Duch, a relative success as the trial closed. However, there are indications that Cambodian officials may not participate in future cases making it difficult to conduct a fair trial for the four Khmer Rouge members awaiting trial
Namibia: Live Elections Blog
Live Elections Blog as Namibia votes on November 27 and 28, 2009.
Africa: Why are African intellectuals so depressing?
Why are African intellectuals so depressing?, wonders Kenyan blogger Kaasa: “Hello! Today on my way back to the hotel, I saw the current Oct-Dec 2009 BBC Focus on Africa magazine at a newsstand and read Mukoma wa Ngugi’s article “We Are Sailing”. My goodness. Talk about a super depressingly-depressing article.
Namibia: A quick update from VSO volunteer
A quick update from a VSO volunteer in Namibia: “As part of the immunisation program I’ve been on two crazy adventures into the deepest darkest Namibian bush, over mountains and through deserts (literally) to take nurses and other health staff out to do health education and immunisations.”
