Stories about Development from July, 2008
Egypt: Collapsing Buildings
Headlines about collapsing buildings and pulling children's bodies from the rubble are common in Egypt. Ibn Al Dunya, writing in Fustat, briefs us about the latest tragedy which took away five innocent lives.
Ukraine: Victor Pinchuk & YES Summit
Ukrainiana writes about Ukraine's second-richest man and his “self-promotional philosophy.”
Trinidad & Tobago: Survival Strategy
Trinidadian blogger, The Coffee Wallah, isn't impressed by the G8 leaders’ tree-planting exercise, and says our approach to the environment reminds her of a Hollywood action movie. “Are we really going to wait until we have four minutes to save the world?”, she asks.
Barbados: Tourist Trap
Barbados Underground questions whether the increase in the cost of a visitor driving permit from $10 to $100 would harm the island's vital tourism industry.
South Korea: Anti Lee Myungbak Movement
Newcham has written up a most elaborated report on the South Korean anti Lee Myungbak movement.
Japan: Bloggers on food crisis feast, G8 over Skype?
The G8 Summit at Toyako, Hokkaido, ended on June 9th after three days of meetings, leaving a bitter aftertaste for some bloggers in Japan. Many questioned the high cost of the event, pointing out how environmentally unfriendly it was, and one even proposed that the meeting could be better carried out over Skype.
Cuba: The US and Cuban Oil
An article on negotiations between Brazil's Petrobras and Cuba prompts The Cuban Triangle to consider the implications of oil exploration in Cuba's Gulf reserves.
Touring Libyan Blogs: Summer, Diplomacy, Data Protection and the Right to Privacy
The sprawling summer days in Libya have kicked in fast bringing with them the beach season, which for me carries wafts of childhood holiday memories and funnily enough watermelons. As expected there were a few summer related posts on the Libyan blogosphere. After all with approximately 2000 km of coastline...
Angola: Growth and changes
Hippo, a British expatriate living in Angola, has a long post about the changes the country is about to face with the new property law came into effect in Angola on the 15th of June. “On paper, we are worth a lot more than a week ago. Imagine how much...
Trinidad & Tobago: RIP Grace Dolsingh—The Fight Continues
Trinidad blogger Rights Action Group T&T bids farewell to a community activist, and asks in her memory that “the government reconsider its notion of development to include the needs of its people.”
Malawi: Radio Host seeks Help in Blog
An 18 month-old radio program that attracted a faithful following in Malawi is in danger of ceasing, thanks to expensive phone rates and limited bandwidth. The program's host, Malawian blogger Victor Kaonga, has made an appeal for the program to find sponsorship and be saved.
China: Agricultural Revolution
Xueyong predicts that, with the world food crisis, the development of agriculture may become an economic driving force. The blogger hopes that China can make use of the opportunity to develop its agriculture and improve the living condition of rural population.
Afghanistan: From Life of Fear to Life of Freedom
The Rumi tells the story about the secondary school in Mazar-i-Sharif, northern town of Afghanistan.
Russia: TNK-BP; Khodorkovsky
FP's Passport writes about the ongoing TNK-BP scandal and new charges against Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
Trinidad & Tobago: Embarrassment of Riches
The US President's statement that Trinidad & Tobago no longer qualifies for preferential trade status causes Four Fingers and a Thumb 2.0 to consider all the ways in which the twin-island republic is “too rich.”
Barbados: Tourism Threat?
Barbados Underground comments on a recent newspaper article headlined “No tourism threat from Trinidad”, and suggests the reality may soon be very different.
South Korea: More Developmental Project
Matt from Gust of popular feelings blogs in details about two giant developmental project in South Korea, one is Han River ‘Renaissance Plan’ and the other is the Yongsan ‘Dreamhub’.
Armenia: Education Blogs
Now that post-election tensions are dying down in Armenia, there is a huge potential for blogs to cover more specific issues which are either ignored or left undiscussed by the media and society in general. One of those subjects is education, an area which is particularly tainted by corruption in the post-Soviet space.
Russia: Farewell to “Khrushchevki”
Earlier this week, LJ user drugoi, one of the most popular and prolific Russian bloggers, posted 17 photos from a Moscow neighborhood of Khrushchev-era apartment blocks, commonly known as khrushchevki, pyatietazhki, or khrushchoby. The neighborhood is about to disappear, to make room for more up-to-date residential high-rises. Below is some of the text that accompanies drugoi's photos, and a few of the 331 comments that the post has generated.
Serbia: Business Success
LimbicNutrition Weblog writes about “two perfect examples of run-away success stories involving returnee Serbs building world-class businesses right here in Serbia.”
Ukraine: More Foreign Workers?
Buffalo Expat writes about Ukraine's demographics, migrant labor and xenophobia.
