Stories from 24 April 2006
India: Death of a student
The Instant Me writes from Armenia on the death of the Indian student – “A fact that I would like to bring under, is that no one from the university, accompanied the body back to India. The reasons they gave was that a visa could not be made ready, and...
Vietnam myths uncovered
Preya at Dreaming of Hanoi tackles some of the myths people have about Vietnam.
Islamic Banking in Indonesia
Sarapanekonomy explains islamic banking in Indonesian context. Islamic banks operate under shariah law, which does not allow interest taking on investments.
Armenia: Indian Student Protests
LoonyMoony, Nessuna, and Onnik Krikorian all have updates on the Indian student protests in Armenia at Oneworld Multimedia. Nanyaar, an Indian student in Armenia, also has an update at his blog, The Instant Me.
Mongolia: Subsidized Flight
Luke Distelhorst writes on the higher prices for domestic flights in Mongolia, sparking a lively discussion in the comments.
Egypt: Sham an Nessim
According to Ibn ad Dunya, The Giza Zoo, the oldest Zoo in Africa (innaugerated March 1, 1891), reopened on Sham an Nessim, (litteraly the smell the brezze-festival) after being closed for 45 days, due to the bird flu. The Giza Zoo is normally one of the major attractions on this...
Saudi Arabia: World Cup 2006
It seem that FIFA World Cup fever is starting early at Saudi Arabia. Ahmed is posting some details about the Saudi football team and tagging other Saudi–male-bloggers to motivate them starts talking about Saudi and it’s participation in World Cup 2006.
Lebanon: Iran Worse than Israel?
Iran appears as a greater threat to some Lebanese Sunnis than Israel. The reasoning behind this comes from both domestic and regional factors, however, it is couched in regional terms, Lebanon Profile said.
Caribbean: Bureaucracy kills & biofuel
Taran Rampersad is starting a “death and injury counter” in response to the region's lack of action in the area of disaster preparedness. “My theory is that all the bureaucracy kills people in a way that could be seen as criminally negligent,” he says. And why isn't the Caribbean thinking...
Armenia: Stolen Tunes
Der Hova writes about the frustration of being involved with creating a great song in Armenia only to have it stolen and made into a hit by someone else.
Armenia: Corruption & The Grassroots
Christian Garbis reports on blatant government corruption in Armenia and comments that the best way for Armenian citizens to combat it is to organize themselves politically rather than waiting for an opposition leader to appear and lead them.
Central Asia: Corruption in Education
The Golden Road to Samarqand covers corruption in education in Central Asia, describing how corruption works in the Kyrgyz educational system and efforts to combat it in a few countries in the region.
Uzbekistan: ABA Shutdown
Olesya comments on the first steps in the inevitable closure of the American Bar Association–Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative in Uzbekistan.
Cayman Islands: Residency for sale?
“According to very unconfirmed sources, the Cayman Islands government may be looking into a way to sell permanent residency and/or status – this time above the table,” writes Cayblogger, who isn't happy about this at all.
Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica: US Army Bases
A Flickr photoset prompts Mad Bull to satisfy his curiosity – whetted years ago in Lit. class — about the presence of US army bases in Trinidad and Jamaica.
Iran:Women & Football
Zannevesht (Persian) says that according to IRNA (Islamic Republic News Agency), Iranian President wants to give permission to women to go stadiums watching football matches.
Japan: China's military buildup
In Hostile Maneuvers, Reloaded, Curzon at Coming Anarchy traces increases in Chinese military spending since the 1990s in the context of Japan's ratification of the American Missile Defense Plan.
Japan: Tokyo's consecutive earthquakes
A series of small earthquakes in Tokyo every day this past week have left Jesse Jace at Chorus, Isolate, Confirm a little shaken up: “As if to punctuate the phenomenon with an extra-heavy bullet point, there was a sudden tremor no more than five seconds after I had the idea...
China: Today's Canton captured
Frances at Supernaut continues with the visual and textual representating of Guangzhou, one of China's largest cities, with posts on an upcoming DJ delight, the city's third modern dance festival, a photo tour through the largely undeveloped old city and the sci-fi endlessness of the south side of the Pearl...
China: Human rights news
Two interesting stories from the many this week on China Activist Weekly: statistics behind the country's death penalty and the hunger strike which following the Chinese New Year has seen many leading Chinese activists and intellectuals imprisoned, which last year's diplomatic defector to Australia Chen Yonglin calls “the biggest freedom...
Barbados: We want biotech
Barbados is trying to attract biotech firms, but Barbados Free Press thinks they should find a more efficient way of spreading the word than through PR newswire services.
