17 February 2006

Stories from 17 February 2006

Uzbekistan: Ukraine Deportations

  17 February 2006

Registan.net writes about the deportation from Ukraine of a handful of Uzbeks trying to obtain refugee status and speculates about the possible connection of the decision to Ukraine's need for Central Asian gas.

Ukraine: News Roundup

  17 February 2006

Dan McMinn of Orange Ukraine does his regular roundup of Ukraine's main political and economic themes: the gas agreement, privatization issues, campaign news and relationship with Russia.

Guyana: Amerindian Bill

  17 February 2006

Indigenous matters blog The Voice of the Taino People publishes a press release issued by the Amerindian Peoples Association of Guyana (APA) objecting to the passage of the Amerindian Bill 2005 in its present form. The APA alleges that the Bill promotes racial discrimination.

DR: Mixtape

  17 February 2006

Dominican hip-hop group R-1 invites (ES) all visitors to their blog to download their latest mixtape, ““Pa Que Vayen Cogiendo”.

Cuba: Macheteros

  17 February 2006

Que Bola? posts a lovely black-and-white photo of two macheteros, or Cuban sugar cane workers, remarking that “it is mindboggling to see the old antiquated equipment and ox drawn wagons that are still being used in the small sugar industry that persists in Cuba.”

Bermuda: Referendum for Bermuda?

  17 February 2006

The Limey notes that South Pacific islands of Tokelau have become the latest colony to reject independence by referendum, and wonders when the pressure group “Bermudians for Referendum” will be taken seriously by the country's Premier.

Trinidad & Tobago: Calypso and costumes

  17 February 2006

Francomenz writes about singer David Rudder, whom she calls “the Naipaul of calpyso”, and Nicholas Laughlin posts the second report on his efforts to help build Carnival costumes.

Ukraine: 10 Uzbek Asylum Seekers Deported

  17 February 2006

Peter Byrne at Abdymok links to a Ukrainian-language story on ten Uzbek asylum seekers who were deported from Ukraine in violation of international law. He thinks this is “almost as bad as shipping rocket launchers to Burma.” Holly Cartner, director of Human Rights Watch's Europe and Central Asia Division, believes...

Political Posture on China in the US Congress

  17 February 2006

US Congressman Tom Lantos sharply criticized the US hi-tech firms for helping the Chinese government censor the Internet at Wedn's congressional hearing. Chinese blogger Keso compares that to Chinese government's insistence that no one has ever been arrested due to speech on the Internet. He considers both “political postures”, and...

Venezuela: Frustration and Despair

  17 February 2006

While most Venezuelan bloggers lament the site outage of the directory, VeneBlogs, Miguel Octavio was full of despair and frustration on Valentine's Day as he lists nine examples of corruption and lawlessness which he says have come to define contemporary Venezuela.

Uruguay: Montevideo Wiki

  17 February 2006

Andrés Calamaro is hoping to recruit volunteers (ES) to help fill out his Montevideo Wiki (ES), a collective information resource about Uruguay's largest city. He is starting with a collection of famous regional sayings.

Indonesia: Begging, the Question

  17 February 2006

The Lucretius Plan, which is setting up an NGO in Flores, Indonesia, struggles over writing an email asking for donations from family and friends. “I find it hard asking people for donations, partly because I am anxious about being disappointed by the response.”

Indonesia: Thoughts on Nationalism

  17 February 2006

Once Upon a Weblog wonders what nationalism means for Indonesians, and worries whether the elite has hijacked it: “To them nationalism has revolved into an instrument for manufacturing consent in order to legitimize socioeconomic and political interest of political groups.”