Stories about LANGUAGES from August, 2010
India: A Message To Pastor Jones
Raja Basu from New Delhi is shocked by the heinous plan of Pastor Terry Jones to burn The Quran to commemorate the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 incident. The blogger...
India: Uncontrolled Alcoholic Liquor Consumption
Ram Bansal at India In Peril informs that growing number of male Indian adults (currently 50%) are taking alcoholic liquors regularly. The blogger discusses the downside of the uncontrolled alcoholic...
Guinea-Bissau: An Armored Mercedes Benz
António Aly Silva on Ditadura de Consenso [pt] tells of the battles between the widow of assassinated head of state Nino Vieira and the President over an armored Mercedes Benz,...
South Asia: Bloggers On The ‘Ground Zero Mosque’
The recent debate on the planned Islamic Center/Mosque near the site of the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York, USA has been reverberated in many blogospheres around the world. In this post we will look at snippets of some interesting conversations on this issue by a number of South Asian bloggers.
Libya: Charity in Islam
From Libya, Khadija Teri discusses charity in Islam.
UAE/Saudi Arabia: Palestinian-Israeli author's cultural site blocked
Arabic Literature (In English) reports that the “new literary and cultural site from Palestinian-Israeli author Ala Hlehel and journalist and culture critic Anton Shalhat, Qadita, is apparently blocked in the...
Turkmenistan: WikiLeaks-like service in demand
Turkmenistan is a society so veiled in shadows that one wonders whether its own leaders believe in the government’s propaganda. For this reason, the country desperately needs a service like...
Kazakhstan: Does Astana Need Central Asia?
Megakhuimyak analyzes statistics and comes to a conclusion that Kazakhstan does not have strategic trade or investment interests in Central Asia, while the region itself turns out to be a...
Kazakhstan: Prison Riots
KZBlog writes about the disturbing news from Kazakhstan’s prisons, where – more and more frequently – inmates mutilate themselves or stage riots, claiming that they are routinely beaten and tortured.
Kyrgyzstan: Southern politician opposes central government
Nathan Hamm reports that Melis Myrzakmatov, the mayor of Osh, the largest city in the south of Kyrgyzstan, and a thorn in the side of the new government since it...
Afghanistan: Parliamentary Election Update
Joshua Foust provides an update on the upcoming parliamentary election in Afghanistan, specifying numerous worrying instances of violations and abuses of state resource by candidates, campaign staff, and government employees.
Afghanistan: The Helmand Food Zone Fiasco
Joel Hafvenstein writes about the British “Food Zone” program, which was considered to be a better effort comparing to other counternarcotics activties in Afghanistan. But “when examined closely, there’s no...
Turkmenistan: The former ruler's golden statue removed
M reports that the golden statue of Turkmenbashy, the country’s first dead President, atop the Arch of Neutrality was quietly pulled down in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, this week.
Kyrgyzstan: Economic roots of inter-ethnic clashes
Elina Galperin reflects on the possible economic reasons of the recent inter-ethnic clashes between Uzbeks and Kyrgyzs in the southern regions of Kyrgyzstan.
Guatemala: Attack Against a Blog?
Luis Figueroa reports [es] that blogger Guillermo Pineda wrote on Twitter, “My blog in WordPress.com was hacked. Anyone knows if I can recover it? #Hacked #Wordpress.” Luis wonders if this...
Morocco: The Sublime Sufi Revival
The rhythms of a Sufi revival are passionately reverberating through the corridors of Morocco, and they are not going unheard, especially by the nation’s youth.
Egypt: Ramadan Television and the Muslim Brotherhood
This year in Ramadan the Egyptian TV decided to produce a series about the opposition party Al-Ikhwan (The Muslim Brotherhood). The TV series, which is called El Gamaa, tries to shed light on the history of group and it's founder Hassan El Banna, bringing criticism from many bloggers that it reflects nothing but the regime's point of view.
Russia: The Mirny Diamond Mine
Siberian Light writes about the Mirny Mine, “the largest open pit diamond mine in the world, and […] the second largest excavated hole in the world.”
South Korea: Extras Went On Strike
In South Korea, about one hundred extras from movies and soap operas went on strike, protesting over low pay and verbal abuse in the work place, South Korea's Segye [kr]...
Russia: Mari Paganism and Charges of “Extremism”
OpenDemocracy.net reports: “In their remote forest republic 400 miles east of the Moscow, the pagan Mari people are once again being harassed by the authorities. […] Ethnically kin to the...
Japan: Anime Director Satoshi Kon's Last Message
Anime director Satoshi Kon died of pancreatic cancer on August 24th, at the age of 46. Kon's final message that was posted to his website resonated with fans around the world that mourn his passing.