Stories from 12 April 2006
Russia: VDNKh
Snowsquare.com posts pictures and text from the All-Russian Exhibition Center in Moscow, formerly known as VDNKh.
Belarus: Lukashenko's Health
TOL's Belarus Blog shares rumors of Aleksandr Lukashenko's poor health reported in the German Focus Magazine.
Hungary: Recycling
Timbo of The Hungary Years writes about recycling and “not wasting” in Hungary.
Slovenia: Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
Michael of The Glory of Carniola posts a video clip of the Slovenian version of Who wants to be a millionaire?, in which a contestant fails to answer the first question. Also, a past highlight of the Serbian version of the show.
Russia: Comedian Mikhail Zadornov
W. Shedd of The Accidental Russophile posts a bio of Russian comedian Mikhail Zadornov and supplies a translation of two of his pieces: a Soviet-time “Conversation of a Rest Home Deputy Director with Guests on the Day of Their Arrival” and a more recent one, “Russian business, or the Eighth...
Malaysia-Singapore bridge
KTemoc discusses the surprise Malaysian decision to halt the construction of a controversial bridge between Malaysia and Singapore.
Songkran fun in Chiang Mai
Greg at Vagabonding begins! joins the Songkran festivities in Chiang Mai. Songkran is also known as Water Festival and it marks the Thai new year.
A trip to Brunei
Saifulrizan from Labuan, Malaysia takes a ferry to nearby Brunei and blogs about his experiences there.
Songkran – the good and the bad
Bangkok resident Chatchai Kongaut lists the pros and the cons of Songkran festival.
China: Documented human rights abuses
Ten years in the making, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights’ ‘Report on China Mission of Special Rapporteur on Torture‘ came out last month. Donald C. Clarke of the Chinese Law Prof blog gives a review and two links. “It is a sober and comprehensive treatment of many aspects...
Crime in Johor
The blogger at Frus and Fuss asks if something can be done to reduce the rising crime rate in the Malaysian state of Johor.
Call centre outsoursing woes
Filipino blogger J. Angelo Racoma questions the logic behind a bill that the US Senate Commerce Committee is considering. The bill requires that call centre employees disclose what country they are in.
Blogging 101 for librarians
Filipino Librarian blogs about a presentation titled “Blogging 101 for Librarians” that he gave at a gathering of Southeast Asian Librarians.
Japan: Yasukuni shrine visits
The Japundit links to a story in which recently-elected leader of Japan's Democratic Party Ichiro Ozawa suggests “that visits to Yasukuni shrine are the main cause of problems with Japan's neighbors,” a view which Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi rejected. Next up is a review of writer Hillary Raphael's first...
China: Tiananmen revisited
Richard from The Peking Duck updates on PBS’ upcoming documentary on the man who on June 5, 1989 stood in the way of a line of China's People's Liberation Army tanks pushing into Tiananmen square, and links to a website PBS has which focuses on that man. “I've just spent...
Hong Kong: Same sex discourse
Has Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain given homophobia a foothold within the Cantonese language? The flagrant harbour blogger gives us the both the short and long answer in ‘Brokeback Mounting.’
China: Foreign involvement in Chinese media
Danwei blogs—and China Herald too—on China Central Television's newly-revamped English-language website, developed in cooperation with media magnate Rupert Murdoch and designed with help from Fox News. “Fortunately,” quips Fons from the Herald, “it also has no RSS-feeds, so I can avoid this new tool to fall asleep.”
China: Qing Ming festival
An astute observation in a post at The Useless Tree regarding China's Qing Ming festival—which took place last week—in which people go and sweep the graves of their relatives: “If you go to a graveyard to sweep the tomb of your parents, and if you speak out about how they...
Iran: A Model Society?
Amshaspands (Persian) writes Iranian President in his declaration that Iran has started to enrich uranium, talked about Islamic Republic as a model several times. Blogger says God knows Islamic Republic is a model for whom?
Musings from some West African Blogs
Chippla’s Weblog muses about nepotism in a prose titled: The Minister’s Son. The setting of his narrative is Nigeria. Here is an extract: “I asked why the Internet connection at the office wasn't working. They said the contract had been given eight months ago. I asked to whom the contract...
Dominican Republic: Deportees and film premiere
Daily Dominican Republic News reports that the US Immigration and Naturalization Service has deported 942 Dominican ex-convicts so far this year, and that the premiere of the film “The Feast of the Goat”, based on Mario Vargas Llosa's novel about Dominican dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo, took place in Santo Domingo.
