Mongolia: Goodbye, Lenin

The last bronze statue of Vladimir Lenin in Ulan-Bator, the capital of Mongolia, was recently taken down. Alec Metz on Registan.net explains what this means to Mongols and why many of them miss the previous adherence to ‘Lenin Bagsh’ (‘Teacher Lenin’).

Senegal: Casamance Region Hopes for Peace Through Deal in Rome

On October 13 and 14, preliminary talks took place in Rome between representatives of the Senegalese government and of the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (Mfdc). Casamance is a region in the south west of Senegal, which has been the scene of violent conflict between government forces and those fighting for independence since the beginning of the 1980s.

Grenada: Remembering a Revolution

October 19 marked the 29th anniversary of the bloody military coup in Grenada which ousted leader Maurice Bishop from government and prompted the United States-led invasion of the country. Two bloggers marked the occasion with detailed posts about what happened and how it forever changed the course of Grenada's history.

Madagascar: Preserving National Heritage with Video Archiving

A Civil Society Initiative has been set up to preserve the 'collective memory' of Madagascar by digitally archiving videos detailing its, often controversial, history. The Fl@H Association was set up to preserve Madagascar’s audiovideo heritage and aims to be a force for the preservation of the country’s history. Members can already point to several achievements.

Trinidad & Tobago: R.I.P., Bertie Marshall

Mark Lyndersay pays tribute to the late steel pan pioneer, Bertie Marshall, who passed away last week.

Peru Holds Annual Processions for the Lord of the Miracles

Every year during October, Lima (Peru's capital city) shows its devotion to the Lord of the Miracles. Here's a brief summary of the history behind this huge Peruvian religious event, and a taste of how citizens have been commenting and covering the processions through citizen media.

Uganda: Getting Ready for the Second Coming of #Kony2012

“I didn’t pay much mind to the #Kony2012 kerfuffle when it first surfaced back in March. I couldn’t be bothered to watch the film and was a bit blasé about the re-emergence (as it seemed to me) of the Lord’s Resistance Army as a topic of wide international interest. But...

Burundi: Celebrating The First Democratically Elected President

Jean Marie Ngendahayo writes about [fr] the relatively unknown story of Melchior Ndadaye, the first democratically elected president of Burundi after winning the 1993 election. Ngendahayo states that what stood out with Ndadaye was his willingness to reach out to all Burundians; in fact he chose an opponent, Mrs. Sylvie Kinigi as his...

Vietnam: Impact of Agent Orange

Aaron Joel Santos uploads photos which show the negative legacy of the use of Agent Orange in Vietnam during the Vietnam War.

Indonesia: Impact of Bali Bombing

Reporting on Bali changed the way I looked at the world. Until today, I believe Bali could have been prevented if authorities paid attention to the signs along the way. When the explosions happened a decade ago, the Indonesian police already had the names of every single one of the...

Blogger's Visit to Tokyo's Rare Korean Book Center

North Korea Tech blogger posted about his visit to a small and rare book center in Japan archiving documents and contents related to North Korea.

Cambodia: Life Under the Khmer Rouge Regime

I was born in 1977. My mum told me it was hard to find food for me. They forced people to work on the rice field but they didn’t allow people to eat anything but just a bow of porridge. It was the Pol Pot regime.

Uganda Marks 50 Years of Independence

On Tuesday 9 October, 1962, Uganda got its independence from Britain. As the country celebrated its Golden Jubilee recently, Ugandans online have been using Twitter and Facebook to share their opinions about Uganda@50.

Egypt: Remembering Maspero; Waiting for Justice to be Served

Egyptians recalled the tragic events of the Maspero massacre today, vowing to avenge the blood of martyrs and keep the revolution going. On October 9 last year, 28 Christian Copts were killed and another 200 injured when the army attacked protesters outside the Egyptian state media headquarters Maspero.

Swaziland: The Princess show-stopper ‘virginity dance’

Welcome DLAMINI writes about ‘virginity dance’ in a post published on swazilive.com: Her Royal Highness Princess Sikhanyiso performed her show-stopper ‘virginity dance’ under floodlights yesterday as the 2012 Reed Dance Ceremony progressed into the twilight

Ukraine: Communist MP's Facebook Account Suspended, Then Restored

Maksym Savanevsky of Watcher.com.ua wrote [uk] that the Facebook account [ru] of Yevgeniy Tsarkov, a Ukrainian Communist MP, was blocked on Oct. 5, following Tsarkov's scandalous remarks during a political talk show. Tsarkov said [ru] that the Soviet NKVD had not done enough to get rid of the Ukrainian nationalists....

Venezuela: A Country in Suspense

The blog Tráfico Visual, dedicated to the expansion of the contemporary art movement in Venezuela, published the reflections of Roldán Esteva-Grillet in the text that accompanies the exhibition ‘Country in suspense’. Esteva-Grillet developed several ideas that seek to contribute to the political understanding of contemporary Venezuelan art.

Bhutan: Bad Hair Days

Existence of barbers or professional hair cutters does not feature in any history of Bhutan.

Egypt: Abusing the October 6 War

Egyptian Nervana shares her thoughts on the 39th anniversary of the 6th of October (Yom Kippur) War. She writes: Egyptians need hope, and October ’73 is the event that is often used (and abused) to provide that much-needed feel- good factor.

Thailand: Films Chosen for Historical Registry

Thailand's Culture Ministry and the Thai Film Archive have identified 25 films to be included in the country's historical registry. Blogger Wise Kwai discusses the importance of some of the films in the list.

Peru: Pardon Requested for Former President Alberto Fujimori

On Thursday night, September 27, 2012, the hashtags #noalindulto (no to the pardon) and #sialindulto (yes to the pardon) competed to gain visibility on Twitter. They referred to a possible humanitarian pardon for former President Alberto Fujimori, who is currently serving a 25-year sentence for human rights violations.