24 March 2006

Stories from 24 March 2006

Panama: Panela

  24 March 2006

Melissa De Leon is dizzy with anger that you have been lied to about the so-called dangerous impurities of panela. But then, just what is panela?

Peru: Humala in the Lead

  24 March 2006

Boz has posted his weekly poll numbers from across Latin America with three new polls that have Peruvian leftist, Ollanta Humala in the lead. Peru Election 2006 has graphics illustrating the poll data. Andres Oppenheimer offers two explanations of why a leftist is leading despite Peru's recent economic growth.

Cuba: Castro's quirks?

  24 March 2006

Does Fidel Castro really incinerate his underwear? And exactly how partial is he to pata negra Serrano ham? Pondblog comments on a Miami Herald article in which a former aide to “El Lider Maximo” spills the beans on Castro's alleged personal habits and other matters.

Bermuda: A New Vision?

  24 March 2006

Both Sean and the Limey attend the New Vision rally of the United Bermuda Party. Both gentlemen leave the event duly impressed.

Bermuda: 436 cases of child abuse

  24 March 2006

Unlike the Bermudian government, Valentine Michael Smith thinks that 436 reported cases of child abuse in Bermuda in 2005 is “an alarming trend”, and calls for action.

Belize: Beach Feet

  24 March 2006

“I haven't worn shoes for 6 years now and offically have ‘Beach Feet,'” writes Belize Caribbean Colors, an American transplanted to Belize. “Beach feet are a definite separation between the big toe and the second toe. Its also when your toes are more permanently spread apart from walking barefoot in...

Russia: “Seven Sisters” – Part 2

  24 March 2006

Digenis posts part 2 of a series on Moscow's Stalin-era skyscrapers, the Seven Sisters. “The exact number of apartments [in the building on Kotelnicheskaya Naberezhnaya] has been rather difficult to track down. […] anywhere from 344 to ‘about 800′.”

Barbados: Mom and daughter netballers

  24 March 2006

Barbados Free Press links to an Australian newspaper article highlighting the mother and daughter who are members of the Barbadian netball team contesting the Commonwealth Games.

New blogger in Uganda – HipFlaskSwigger

  24 March 2006

Peoplehouse is a recently-started blog which appears to be by Ugandan journalist David Kaiza and consists, so far, of selected pieces of his writing. His most recent post is an appreciation of the novelist V.S. Naipaul written in the year that Naipaul won the Nobel prize for literature.

Nigeria's census – nearly over but could do better

  24 March 2006

There are great pictures of Nigerian census-takers on Edward Popoola's Jangbalajugbu-Homeland Stories but he feels the operation, while necessary, could be better organised. “We do not use the social security number system in Nigeria and I am not sure our births and deaths are perfectly monitored and well documented. It...

Swahili hip-hop

  24 March 2006

Msanii XL has posted a hip-hop podcast which features artists from a range of countries, but if you want your hip-hop in Swahili don't forget to check his radio blog player in the sidebar.

A new website about DR Congo

  24 March 2006

At Congo Watch there's the announcement of a new website called Friends of the Congo. There is also a Friends of the Congo Blog. Both sites have as their masthead a quotation from famous former Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba: “We are not alone. Africa, Asia, and free and liberated people...

Belarus: Arrests, Courts and Anti-Media Flash Mob

  24 March 2006

French journalist writing for Liberation has just been arrested in Minsk; actually so many people have been arrested that, unprecedentally, Minsk courts will be working on Saturday, reports br23 blog. Andrei Khrapavitski posts a picture from today's flash mob event that took place in Minsk to criticize the performance of...

Vietnam: Painted Scrolls

  24 March 2006

Six Months in Hanoi asks for help identifying the imagery in two painted scrolls he brought back with him from Vietnam.

Singapore: Playing the Game Counts

  24 March 2006

Wormie takes issue with those in Singapore complaining it was a waste of money to send a losing team to the Commonwealth Games. “Winning or losing is not everything in sports, it is about participating to the best of one's ability. Along the way in our quest for excellence we...