Stories about History from May, 2007
Brunei: Mysterious Grave
The Daily Brunei Resources takes us back to 15th century in order to unravel the mystery of a grave in the city centre of Brunei's capital.
Russia: Pioneers
The Turkish Invasion writes on the 85th anniversary of the Soviet Pioneer Organization.
Sudan: uninformed about Darfur
Nigerian blogger, Omodudu, writes, “I dropped the ball on Darfur“: I have rocked a banner or two or even made a post on this blog to push the save-Dafur-message. But beyond that I have been so uninformed about this conflict. I assumed the Dafur conflict was one and the same...
Ukraine: Deportation of Crimean Tatars Anniversary
Belatedly, a link to J. Otto Pohl's post on the deportation of the Crimean Tatars on May 18, 1944: “The NKVD and NKGB took the unsuspecting Crimean Tatars to rail stations and stuffed them into train wagons designed for the transport of freight and live stock. The Soviet security organs...
Russia: “Broken Slav-O-Meter”
Moscow-based Darkness at Noon writes about foreigner detection skills: “In a country that was trained for 70 years to view foreigners with skepticism, it's no wonder they're good at rooting us out.”
Russia: Chechnya Documentary
A Step At A Time links to a Zarema Mukusheva’s Crying Sun: The Impact of War in the Mountains of Chechnya documentary on Google Video.
Poland: Roma Photo Exhibit
“Strolling through the Saski Park in Warsaw this morning, by pure accident, I came across wonderful open air photo exhibition on Polish Roma,” writes Olia Yatskevich of TOL's Romantic and posts some photos.
Arabeyes: The Middle East in Pictures
Today's Middle East in Pictures tour takes us to Dubai's lovely beaches, Doha at night, a picture of a flower in Bahrain, the blooming flower gardens of Syria this spring and finally on a Viagra buying spree in the bazaars of Fez, in Morocco.
Hong Kong and China: June 4 massacre
Imagethief has a reading of a pro-China political party's chairperson, Ma Lik's comment about June 4 massacre: Ma Lik wants not only to redefine the language that is used to describe the Tiananmen Square events, but that he wants to institutionalize that redefinition as a pre-requisite for universal suffrage in...
China: history of Chinese characters
Granite Studio blogs on a recent discovery in the study of Damaidi carvings, which carry symbols that resemble early Chinese writing. If the researchers are correct, then these pictographs would be by far the earliest extant examples of proto-Chinese characters.
Taiwan: Farmers Associations and Rural Politics
Michael Turton has a very elaborated post on the history of farmer associations in Taiwan, which is related with colonialism. In recent year, the farmer associations faced very serious debt problem and the solution seems to be highly political.
South Korea: Bruce Cumings interview
Timothy Savage and Kang Sung-gwan from Ohmynews have an interview with Bruce Cumings, an expert specialized in Korean history, on issues including social and political development of Korea, North Korea crisis and international relation.
Kuwait: Food, Protocol and Dust Storms
What is the difference between Chicken Majboos and Chicken Biryani? How do you react when you are suddenly face to face with the Amir (Ruler) of Kuwait? And how do you survive a dust storm? These are just some of the issues Kuwaiti bloggers are discussing this week and which Abdullatif Alomar keeps us updated with.
India: Mythology and culture
The Kerala Articles on similarities between various mythologies across the world. “There are many other similarities between the various mythologies in the world. It is not possible to cover all of them under the realms of a single post. But it is infinitely fascinating to learn more and more about...
Syria: An Interview with Abu Fares
Abu Fares is a real Tartoussi (from Tartous) as he likes to describe himself and is one of the most genuinely admired bloggers on the Syrian blogsphere. Yazan Badran interviews him as he marks his blog's first anniversary.
Cuba: Letter to Spain
On the heels of the Spanish Foreign Minister's recent visit to Cuba, Alberto de la Cruz writes a letter to Spain.
Estonia, Israel: Peres’ Visit and the First Synagogue
Eternal Remont posts a note on the opening of Estonia's first synagogue since WWII. A Step At A Time follows Shimon Peres’ visit to Estonia – here and here.
Serbia, Russia, U.S.: Kosovo
Mark MacKinnon quotes William Montgomery, “the U.S. ambassador who headed the efforts to oust Slobodan Milosevic seven years ago,” on the current Kosovo situation: “Montgomery's point […] isn't that Kosovo should never receive the extra autonomy its people are demanding. He's asking why Washington and Moscow are hurtling towards a...
Moldova, Romania: Travel Notes
The Economist's Edward Lucas writes about his recent trip to Moldova, Transdniestria, Romania and Ukraine – here, here, here and here (the last installment is due to be posted Friday).
Korean sex trafficking: past and present
Korean sex trafficking: past and present. A blogger wonders why the past is a bigger deal than the present in Korea, linking to a news article, “Enslavement of women persists despite new law.”
North-South Korean Train
“Give me a train ticket for Pyongyang” Koreans express their joy for the North-South Korean train through internet cartoons and gatherings. See the moment the train finally operated today from Munsan in South Korea to Kaesong in North Korea. Against the festive mood, families of people who have been abducted...
