Stories about Migration & Immigration from April, 2008
Estonia: Interview With Blogger Flasher T
Itching for Eestimaa interviews “Estonian blogger Flasher T, author of the lively Antyx.”
Kuwait: Deportation for Traffic Offenders
…Or Does it Explode writes about a new Kuwaiti law – which calls for deporting expatriate drivers who jump red lights at traffic junctions.
Angola: On freedom of expression and globalisation
Kianda [pt] thinks that “the fact that someone was born in one country should not revoke their right to think, criticize, vote or even run for elections [in another country]… we are in the globalisation era, in a world with fewer and fewer boundaries and we should all have the...
Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago: Debt of Gratitude
Signifyin’ Guyana profiles a Trinidad-born writer whose latest work book was a finalist for the 2008 National Book Critics Circle Award for biography: “I owe Arnold Rampersad a great big thank-you for making this West Indian woman feel a lot more comfortable about studying Literature in huge American undergraduate classrooms…”
China, Hong Kong and Macau: Visa Control
There have been reports about China tightening multiple visa for foreigners to prepare for Olympics. Kenneth Tan from Shanghaiist found out that the Commissioner's Office of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in the Hong Kong and Macau have stopped issuing multiple visa for foreigners living in China.
Uruguay: 365 versions of La Cumparsita
Three hundred and sixty five versions of one of the most famous tangoes in the world, La Cumparsita, will be played in Independence Plaza in Montevideo, which is the site where it was played for the first time 91 years ago. Café Montevideo [es] has more details.
Jamaica, Guyana, U.S.A.: Virginia Tech Remembered
Jamaican Geoffrey Philp links to Guyanese poet Fred D’Aguiar's poem for Virginia Tech on the one-year anniversary of the shootings.
Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago: West Indian Writers
Jamaican litblogger Geoffrey Philp highlights three new books from West Indian writers.
China: Working Class from Central Asia at Beijing
Laowiseass met some migrant workers from Central Asia in Beijing bars.
Online Obama campaign splits Ethiopian bloggers
Diaspora Ethiopians have been flexing their political muscles in the U.S., organising websites, rallies and email campaigns to persuade their compatriots to support Barack Obama's presidential run. Many Ethiopians bloggers rallied to the cause, pledging cash and votes for the Democratic candidate whose father came from Kenya, a country that neighbours Ethiopia. But others raised questions about the campaign, asking whether it was right to expect Ethiopian-Americans to vote en masse for any candidate.
Haiti: PM Fired in No Confidence Vote
Both Upping The Anti and Bajan Global Report blog about the Haitian parliament passing a vote of no confidence against Prime Minister Jacques-Edouard Alexis, while Dying in Haiti posts a first-hand account by Frandy in Carrefour about the past week's events.
Barbados: Keith Barker Passes
Barbados Free Press acknowledges the passing of a “cricket legend”.
Russia: “Presumption of Guilt”
Moscow bloggers share their views on xenophobia, hate speech - and cab drivers from the Caucasus.
Blogger of the Week: Victor Kaonga
Today's Blogger of the Week series takes us to the heart of Africa, where we catch up with our Malawian blogger Victor Kaonga, who talks to us about his journey with blogging, the media and technology scene in Malawi and his special relationship with God.
China: Fallout from the Free Tibet protests
Anti-China protests this week sent nationalist sentiment in China up to a boiling roar. So when one young woman studying in the US was "caught" participating in a Free Tibet protest, hundreds of raging netizens hurled every insult imaginable her way.
India: Tibet, the Olympic Torch and the Dalai Lama
In this week's roundup of virtual India we look at Tibet in India. Next week the Olympic torch arrives in India. First, Indian footballer Bhaichung Bhutia pulled out, and now Supercop Kiran Bedi has pulled out. However, well-known Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar will be carrying the Olympic torch writes enga....
Guyana: Ruel Johnson's Relevance
Signifyin’ Guyana says that Ruel Johnson's work, which won the Guyana Prize for best first book of fiction in 2002, is “even more buzz-worthy” now than it was then: “He dares to write. And shows us clearly that literary characters can transcend landscapes and share their pain and triumphs with...
Myanmar: 54 dead after suffocating in a lorry
Watch a You Tube video which reports the death of 54 Myanmar migrants who suffocated in a lorry while being smuggled in southern Thailand.
Afghanistan: Kochi Nomads Are Headache for Locals
Hadi1121 tells about Kochi — millions of nomads spread across South Western Pakistan, Eastern Iran, and Afghanistan — who come to Central Afghanistan every spring and arbitrarily make their homes on backyards used and owned by other people.
Armenia: President Inaugurated, Deaths Observed… and a Balloon Festival
Depending on the political orientation of bloggers, the most important event to take place in Yerevan yesterday was debatable. Certainly, as Anush at The Armenian Patchwork explains, there was plenty to see and do, although like others, another event was foremost in her mind. Many things happened yesterday. Among those...
Barbados, Antigua & Barbuda: Crime Control
“It is hard to believe that this is a country which spent US54 million dollars to prepare for Cricket World Cup 2007. It just makes us shake our heads and ask, where are our priorities”: Barbados Underground blogs about the crime situation in Antigua and Barbuda.