Stories from Quick Reads from February, 2007
Armenia: Election Monitor
The CRD/TI Armenia Election Monitor rounds up the latest parliamentary election news.
Turkmenistan: Post-Turkmenbashi Roundtable
Ian Chesley reports on a Harvard roundtable on Turkmenistan after the death of Turkmenbashi.
Uzbekistan: Perils of Assisting Homosexuals
Registan.net covers the latest crackdown on foreign health NGOs in Uzbekistan, which includes action against an organization running an HIV/AIDS prevention program for not just paperwork problems but also because it works with homosexuals. Male homosexuality is a crime in Uzbekistan punishable by three years in prison.
Armenia: Self-immolation
In Armenia yesterday, a man died after setting himself on fire in the capital's Republic Square. It is not known exactly why the man set himself alight, but he reportedly was angry at government officials and over unspecified injustices. The CRD/TI Armenia Election Monitor reports on the incident and rounds...
Burundi: Where No means Yes
Expat blogger BeneBurundi is learning about local culture (Fr): “Communicating with people from Burundi is all about subtlety and interpretation; for example if you're proposed to and you decline with a ‘no’, it is highly possible that what will be heard will be ‘yes, maybe one day if you insist’....
Senegal: Youssou N'Dour Cinematic Debut
California-based Congolese blogger Alain Mabanckou has nothing but praise for Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour's big screen debut in Amazing Grace (Fr):”to see the few clips featuring Youssou N'dour, I think we'll need to to follow him closely. His future is bright if he chooses to concentrate exclusively in this direction...
Ukraine: Chernobyl Posters
Ukraine List posts samples of Chernobyl poster art.
Ukraine: Arena Bar
Olechko shares sketches and observations of the Arena bar in downtown Kyiv.
Ukraine: Volodymyr Shcherban
“Who are the prison cells for?” asks Foreign Notes in a post about Volodymyr Shcherban, former governor of the Donetsk and then Sumy regions. Not for those who seem to deserve being there, it appears.
Slovenia: The Erased
The Glory of Carniola reports on a rather surreal bureaucratic mishap: “This week marks the 15th anniversary of a now infamous moment in Slovenian history: the removal of 18,000 people from Slovenia’s permanent registry of citizens.”
Poland: McDonald's Sales; Rospuda Bypass
The beatroot writes about Prince Charles’ McDonald's comment and the Polish First Lady's views on the planned Rospuda bypass.
Hungary: Two-Tailed Dog Party
Pestcentric writes about Two-Tailed Dog Party – “a guerrilla street artist (read: creative university student with too much spare time) operating out of Szeged” – and showcases some of his work: “Well, fortunately, there’s now an English-language subsite, where a lot of the written work is actually translated so non-Hungarian...
Hungary: Politicians Speak (a Prank)
Pestcentric puts words into Hungarian politicians’ mouths.
Hungary: Mozikep
Shopping for movies at Mozikep DVD/Video shop in Budapest is a crazy experience: read the details at Further Ramblings of a N.Irish Magyar.
Hungary: British Council To Move Out
According to Further Ramblings of a N.Irish Magyar, the British Council is closing 10 of its 19 offices in Europe, including the one in Hungary. The library will stay, though.
Ukraine: Tymoshenko in D.C.
LaurenceJarvikOnline shares his impressions of Yulia Tymoshenko, who was in Washington, D.C., this week: “She described her nation as ‘in crisis’–and took a number of hostile questions about her legal problems from Russian-speakers in the audience. Tymoshenko handled them with grace and aplomb, didn't bristle, smiled even. She's definitely a...
Palestine: A Lesson in History
Palestinian blogger Abu Issa takes us down memory lane to Palestine in 1948 through words, memories and photographs here.
Iran:Anti war Campaigners in London
According to Haji Kensington[Fa], on Saturday, anti war marchers in London asked British troops out of Iraq and they also asked there will be no attack against Iran.
Iran:Economic illusions of Iranian Goverment
Jomhour says that Iranian goverment failed to accomplish its economic promises such as fighting against poverty. According to the blogger, goverment has no reason to accuse “enemy” for its economic failure because 90 percent of country's economy is in the hands of goverment[Fa].
Nepal: On funding terrorism
Madhesh Blog on funding terrorism in Nepal. “Several donor agencies who invested their time to investigate the use of their funds have found them not being used for the intended targets. For example, many grants for poverty reduction and micro-credits have not reached to the targeted grassroots, and many other...
Nepal: Weapons and the UN
Accounting for weapons in Nepal is rather controversial. Nepali Netbook explains – “Moreover, according to Prachanda, many of their weapons were destroyed in fire and swept away by river during the conflict. (Translation: if everyone’s so interested in exact numbers, why does no one ask Girija Prasad Koirala about the...
