Stories from Quick Reads from June, 2007
Ecuador: Palms for Life Brings Computers to Elementary Schools
On its blog, the non-profit organization Palms for Life announces a partnership with Mercy Corps that will bring 200 computers to 37 elementary schools in Ecuador.
Lebanon: Syria's “in the eye of the storm”
A strange conversation took place last April between Syrian president Bashar El Assad and UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon, writes Sophia. The meeeting ends with Bashar El Assad telling Ban Ki Moon: “We are in the eye of the storm. You will need to stay in contact with us.”
Philippines: Taking back the “Sexy Filipina” Search Keyword
Noemi is not happy with the internet search result for the word Filipina. The blogger is urging fellow bloggers from Philippines to collectively beat the porn and smut marketers by actively using the keyword on their blogs and linking them to non-porn sites
East Timor: Growth Aspirations
Tumbleweed in Timor Lorosae feels “every country deserves the equal chance of making some developmental faux pas“
Brunei: Of Love and Trust
Old Man has some wise words for people who want to test the fidelity of their lovers. “Testing is bad. Because half of those tested would definitely fail. At the very least, it will bring doubt to the relationship. Doubt is not good to a relationship.”
Singapore: Singapore's Hit Band from the 1960s
The mod-ified music blog features audio clips of an interview with two of the members of a popular 1960s local band .
Martiniquian blogger on “Fleurs du Mal”
Le blog de [moi] celebrates the 150th anniversary of Fleurs du Mal (Fr) by posting “Le Vampire” and explaining her attraction to Baudelaire's poetry: “Baudelaire speaks of death and women like no other. I really understand his fascination with the two…I open [the book] rarely because it always brings out...
Bangladesh: Changing Lives
Voice of South on a woman's life turning around thanks to micro-credit and telecom.
India: Forces in Kashmir
Kashmir on the excesses of the Indian security forces in the state.
Egypt: Books, History and the Holocaust
The Big Pharaoh finds a interesting book at a street vendor in downtown Cairo. Click here to read more.
Manu Dibango's “Soul Makossa,” the original “Thriller”
Alain Mabanckou writes about famed Cameroonian musician (Fr) Manu Dibango, whose Soul Makossa has “all the rhythm, all the atmosphere” of Michael Jackson's album Thriller, although it debuted 11 years before.
Kuwait: Old Sports Pictures
Kuwait-based blogger Mark posts these old pictures from Kuwait.
Iraq: More than Just Numbers
“A nation is not a corporation and when we deal with a nation we are dealing with a society; a mass of people with ever changing hearts and minds and that's why numbers alone can't be enough to assess the situation—thoughtful insight and looking at the bigger image are also...
Mideast: Networking Arab Journalists
“Most Americans can’t tell the difference between Arabs and non-Arabs and they often use the terms Muslim and Arab interchangeably,” writes Ray Hanania in an article on networking Arab journalists.
Pakistan: Hospitals and Profit
The Pakistani Spectator on hospitals being runs as for-profit businesses.
Algeria: Holiday Debate
Algerian Nouri gets us in into the debate of changing the weekly holiday from Thursday/Friday to Saturday/Sunday here.
Nepal: Refugees in Austria
United We Blog! on Nepali refugees in Austria.
CAR: Amnesty International calls for UN troops
Amnesty International is calling for the immediate deployment of UN troops (Fr) to the Central African Republic to address the worsening security situation in the north of the country highlighted in a new UN report (Fr), Alliance Pour La Democratie et Le Progres writes.
India: Why women don't make the cut in Politics
IndianMuslims.In on why the Presidential candidate is in trouble. Apparently women lack leadership skills, are too candid and are easily overwhelmed by emotions.
Benin: Is the press living up to its promise?
Babilown posts an article that asks whether the Beninese press is living up to its responsibility (Fr) to act as the “fourth branch” of government. “Whether the executive, the legislative, or the judicial branch…in all spheres of public life, too often we are content to wallow in mediocrity, in the...
Kazakhstan: No more gambling!
What happened to the ubiquitous casinos in downtown Almaty since they got banned? Adam Kesher investigates on neweurasia.
