· August, 2008

Stories about Development from August, 2008

Egypt: Respecting Traffic Lights

What does people's attitudes towards crossing the road have to do with where their country stands in the world? Egyptian blogger Egyptian in the USA brings us the answer in this translation from Arabic.

31 August 2008

Angola: Going, going, gone!

The historic Kinaxixi Market of Luanda, the Angolan answer to Corbusian modernism in architecture, has been knocked down to make way for a modern shopping centre. Is this a sign of the times or an example of the devaluation of heritage in the face of economic power? Clara Onofre reports.

29 August 2008

Trinidad & Tobago: Flood Waters

As flooding plagues parts of Trinidad and Tobago, Jeremy Taylor says: “It’s odd that a country with a TT$45 billion budget, and a desire to become a ‘developed nation’ by...

29 August 2008

South Korea: Old City Hall

Scribblings of the Metropolitician found it hard to believe that the South Korean government could demolish the old city hall building without much public consultation and debate.

29 August 2008

Haiti: Homes Being Destroyed

“Cite Soleil, a shanty town in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, is under siege by the UN occupying forces”: The Haitian Blogger publishes a statement by the Haitian Lawyers Leadership “condemning the wholesale...

28 August 2008

Africa: Innovation in Sub-Saharan Africa

Ghanaian internet entrepreneur Eric Osiakwan and the Berkman Center’s Ethan Zuckerman will discuss the climate for innovation around information technology in Sub-Saharan Africa on September 2nd 2008 at the Berkman...

28 August 2008

Venezuela: Yukpa Indians, Chávez and land disputes

Citizen media videos have been uploaded informing of the situation arising in Venezuela between the Yukpa Indians of the Perijá Mountains, landowners and President Chávez. This dispute over land limits is 30 years in the making, when military forces displaced the Indigenous communities of the Yukpa by force and established landowners who have cattle ranches and have been working the lands ever since.

28 August 2008

Guatemala: Protection of La Danta

Many Guatemalans and foreign journalists are concerned about the plight of the region around La Danta, one of the world's largest pyramids. A group from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting recently visited Petén to document the environmental threats to the region. La Danta is also the name for the tapir, which also requires conservation attention.

28 August 2008

China: Olympic Regrets

Chen XueLei reflected upon his Olympic experience since 7 years ago when Beijing applied for the hosting city. Now that the Beijing Olympics has obtained great success on stage, the...

26 August 2008

Bahamas, Guyana: Walcott's Warning

At the opening of the Carifesta Symposia in Guyana, Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott warned that regional governments are killing their artists – making Bahamian blogger Nicolette Bethel even more convinced...

25 August 2008

Georgia: Economic Fallout

Regional Reporters [RU] reports on the economic consequences of the war between Georgia and Russia over South Ossetia. The blog says that with the damage to civilian infrastructure in Georgia...

24 August 2008