Stories about Development from June, 2007
Bahrain: The Tale of a ‘Legal Slave’
No longer a tax haven, people in Bahrain are fuming at the introduction of a one per cent tax to benefit an Unemployment Fund. Bloggers caught on the bug and are ranting and fuming on their blogs in this report by Ayesha Saldanha. In other related matters, bloggers talk about a new law which bans workers from working between noon and 4pm in the summer heat, lavish weddings and the forgotten 'martyrs' of the civil unrest which rocked Bahrain in the 90s.
Bahamas: Planning for New Providence
Population growth, limited road capacity and potential hurricane threats make it critical for the Bahamas to think about urban planning. Larry Smith at Bahama Pundit explains.
Bangladesh: Rediscovering cultural roots, facing challenges and acknowledging successes
“How effectively a society is able to cope with the challenges it faces depend largely on its culture.” Shahzaman Mazumder tries to find the cultural roots of Bangladesh and provides...
China: Luxurious Buildings and Shanxi Bricks
CCTV News investigation team asked the Tianya community to submit information concerning extravagant and luxurious building in China (zh). There were many submission. Cha Jing highlighted one of the comments:...
Lebanon: Syria's “in the eye of the storm”
A strange conversation took place last April between Syrian president Bashar El Assad and UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon, writes Sophia. The meeeting ends with Bashar El Assad telling...
East Timor: Growth Aspirations
Tumbleweed in Timor Lorosae feels “every country deserves the equal chance of making some developmental faux pas“
Bangladesh: Changing Lives
Voice of South on a woman's life turning around thanks to micro-credit and telecom.
Syrian Blogsphere: Reform, Arab Nationalism and Travel
Why was a Syrian student blogger sued in the US? What should the Syrians do in Lebanon? Where is Arab Nationalism leading us to and what do you feel when you pack five cities into 11 days? These are some of the issues Syrian bloggers were talking about in this week's review by Yazan Badran.
Anguilla: Slave Labour?
As imported Indian labourers marched against unfair wages on a high-profile resort project, Corruption-free Anguilla writes: “Our government has lost its way. It was the compassion of the ordinary Anguillian...
Russia, Belarus: Blaming Putin and Lukashenko
Adam Goodman of Being Had admits that life is tough in Belarus and Russia, but disagrees with La Russophobe‘s perspective: “[…] I refuse to believe, just as I have since...
Pakistan: Education for All
All Things Pakistan on education, and the idea of ‘Education for All’.
China: The China Opportunity
Fons tried to address the question: “Are you positive or negative about the effects of China on the world?” put forward by international delegations at China Herald.
NGO worker on Darfur
Alliance pour la democratie et le progres interviews an NGO worker (Fr) on the situation in Darfur. “Things won't get better quickly.”
Madagascar: A New Hope and Weighing in on the “Aid for Africa” Debate
The hope generated from the TED conference in Arusha that Africa is on its way up has inspired the Malagasy blogosphere. Aiky reports that Malagasy senator Christian Razafimbahiny wrote a...
Hong Kong: Migrant workers support pier preservation
Hoidick from inmediahk.net reported on a survey on migrant workers’ opinion towards public space at Central, especially near the city hall and Queen's pier: Given that Queen’s Pier (and also...
If Bloggers attended the Conference on the Caribbean…
This past week (June 18-21) leaders of CARICOM met with President George W. Bush and other top U.S. government officials in Washington as part of the Conference on the Caribbean....
Africa: the US Farm Bill and African farmers
African Viewpoint writes about the US Farm Bill, African farmers, and Koffi Annan: “While the corporate food supply basks in the shadow of the poverty of poor Africans farmer to...
Lebanon: Almost Non-Political Questions
What are we eating? Why are our banks flourishing? Who are those clearing cluster bombs? How will Brazil help in recycling Lebanese wastes? Where are some of the children who were caught in the crossfire? What about some music? These are some of the questions answered in this week’s selections from the Lebanese blogosphere.
Bahamas: Straw Market Solution?
Rick Lowe at WeblogBahamas.com has some ideas for solving the challenges faced by vendors at the Bahamas Straw Market.
Lebanon: UNIFIL Attacked
The UN peace keeping force in South Lebanon, UNIFIL, came under attack on Sunday. Six Spanish UN peacekeepers were killed and more were injured when a bomb exploded near their...
Africa: do African leaders care about Afro-Futurism?
Charcoal Ink discusses Afro-Futurism and asks, “are African governments adopting an Afro-futurist model?”
