· July, 2007

Stories about North America from July, 2007

Iran:How To Talk The Talk With Iran

William Beeman,Professor of Anthropology at the University of Minnesota,says face-to-face talks between Iran and the United States have a good chance of success if the Bush administration knows how to handle their part of the exchange.Some denizens of Washington are under the mistaken impression that the Americans can dictate the...

Madagascar: Community, Identity and the Malagasy diaspora

  27 July 2007

As it is sometimes the case for sub-Saharan African nations, the Malagasy diaspora carries a substantial weight of the cultural, political and virtual activities related to Madagascar. In the World Wide Web, the bandwidth limitation is a major encumbrance to a larger participation of bloggers from Madagascar in the global...

Africa: New exhibit by Ghanaian architect in New York

  24 July 2007

Annansi writes about a new exhibit by the Ghanaian architect, David Adjaye, at the Studio Museum of Harlem, New York City: “The exhibit, Making Public Buildings, introduces Adjaye’s architecture to American audiences by carrying viewers through his working process-from inspiration to completion-through ten projects, both built and uncompleted.”

“Welcome to Japan”? Kurdish refugee family leaves for Canada

  22 July 2007

Few people, including Japanese themselves, are aware of the dismal record of Japan's treatment of refugees, particularly its treatment of Kurdish refugees. After struggling for many years to make a home in Japan, Erdal Dogan and his family, who fled Turkey amid religious and ethnic persecution, have finally been forced to leave, luckily having been accepted as refugees in Canada. Japanese bloggers reflect on the departure with sadness and frustration.

Bahrain: Does A PlayStation 2 Gun Count As A Weapon?

Bahrain's bloggers have moved on this week to comment on a protest held outside the Iranian Embassy in protest against an editorial by Iranian editor Hossein Shariatmadari, which started that Bahrain should become a part of Iran. Others talk about Embassy interviews for Visas, the release of a Guantanamo detainee, why Bahrain is vying to build the highest skyscraper and preparing for the new release of Harry Potter.

India: Thank you, come again.

  17 July 2007

A stunt pulled by Seven Eleven stores in the US stirs controversy as it relies on the character of Apu (of The Simpsons fame), provoking Greatbong to comment on whether or not the use of the character is racist or offensive.

Africa: Kerosene Magazine: call for submissions

  14 July 2007

Kerosene Magazine is a new opinion magazine for the African Diaspora: “The print edition of magazine is currently being worked on and this is an open call for submissions. Please look at the “Submission Guidelines” page for further details and if you are interested, please send your work along. The...