Stories from 29 May 2006
Bolivia: “The Evo and Hugo Show”
Jim Shultz, referring to the recent media coverage on the relationship between Evo Morales and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, writes: “One of the interesting things about having lived in and written about Bolivia for eight years is watching the foreign press that parachute in for a week or two, declare...
Togo: Books by Blogger's Friends
Kangni Alem directs us (Fr) to novels recently released by his friends Sara Vidal, Amba Till and Adelaide Fassinou on topics such as love and the border between Benin and Togo.
Martinique: Boat Parking in the Way of Beach Enjoyment
Bien Vu complains (Fr) that a Martiniquan municipality is prioritizing the parking of catamarans along a local beach over the comfort and enjoyment of bathers in order to generate revenue.
Be irrepressible! a campaign for global internet freedom
As more and more nations carve up the so-called global, borderless internet into separate spheres of control through filtering and censorship, often using technology supplied by large IT companies, Amnesty International has launched a new campaign – irrepressible.info to raise awareness of and protest against the infringements on the basic...
China: Raising fuel prices, raising tempers
As China's economy continues to grow, so too do the kinds of complaints that come with modern life. And while gas prices are kept lower than can be found in many other countries, two prices hikes in the last year alone have left many of China's rapidly-growing middle class grumbling,...
East Timor reported by the Lusophone Blogosphere
Seven years after the end of Indonesian rule -- becoming the newest world nation in May 2002 -- and having gone through what was viewed as a successful nation building and independence process led by the UN, East Timor is once again facing deep unrest. The last weeks since the reported clashes of April 28th have shown escalating violence and by now the Lusophone blogosphere is starting to speculate about the real forces behind the recent events.
Russia: Pogrom Instead of Gay Pride
LJ user greenmih posts photos from the pogrom that took place in Moscow on Saturday instead of the gay pride parade, which had been banned by Moscow's mayor (RUS). Riot police, Orthodox Christians, skinheads and radical nationalists prevented those who did gather despite the ban to proceed and assaulted them....
Russia: Moscow Roma
Julia (LJ user kunstkamera) posts striking photos of the Roma living in Moscow (RUS). She went to their camp together with a friend – who, at one point, even lent his camera to the Roma and let them make some shots.
India: Women and Helplines
Smita has a positive experience with a helpline for women, as some fellow passengers in the bus seem to need more than just gentle nudging.
India: Media and the bias
Just how balanced is the media when it comes to reporting on some issues? Abi discusses how a new channel appears to ignore one set of demonstrations while highlighting the other.
Sri Lanka: Mahinda and the Tamils
Six months after the election – where does Mahinda stand with respect to his strategy on Tamil issues? More at Transcurrents.com.
Sri Lanka: Job losses and India
Given that a lot of outsourcing jobs go to India, Janapathi in the context of transnational job losses – ponders on why Sri Lankan executives lose their jobs to Indians.
Nepal Moving Towards Peace Talks
After the victory of the April Revolution, and a major House Proclamation that has seriously curbed the powers of the king and renamed the army from Royal Nepal Army to Nepal Army, and a phase one talk with the Maoists, the seven party alliance government still has a lot of unresolved issues. The pace is felt to have been too slow.
Nepal: Quotes from the streets
Blogdai reports from Nepal – quotes and photographs from the street. An observation on grafitti – “Their political grafitti–often in phrases that span over hundreds of meteres–admonishes any and all to “keep going” and to “continue the struggle” as though some final hidden Maoist plan has yet to be fully...
Ethiopia: More websites barred.
RSF report that three more Ethiopian blogs have been barred Ethiomedia.com, Freeourleaders.org and Nazret.com
Costa Rica, Peru: Same-Sex Marriage Ban and Anti-Homophobia Vigil
Rounding up LGBT news in Latin America, Andrés Duque writes that Costa Rica's Constitutional Court ratified a same-sex marriage ban. An anti-homophobia candlelight vigil will take place in Lima, Peru on May 30th.
Jordan: Unemployment
The percentage of educated individuals is continuously increasing and the number of schools and universities is on the rise as well; this is one of the successful trades and business models in Jordan and despite that the education fees are exploding every year; more students are enrolling and more graduates...
Tunisia: Cactus customs
Some strange customs in Tunisian culture. To bring a guest through the kitchen door is humiliating to the house owner. Worse would be if the guest sees the house owner eating… Cactus fruit. Leilouta tells us why!
Syria: Six years in power
Six years into his administration, how significant are the reforms Bashar Al Assad put in place? Read Rime Allaf's opinion.
Serbia & Montenegro: Photos of the Missing Albanians of Kosovo
Doug Muir of A Fistful of Euros writes about a wall of photos of 2,000 missing Albanians next to the government building in Pristina, Kosovo, the story behind these photos and their significance: “Kosovo: just because nobody’s paying attention, doesn’t mean it’s gone away.”
Russia: The Plight of Russian-Germans
J. Otto Pohl writes about one Russian-German family's road to political asylum in the U.S., the plight of the Russian-Germans during WWII and now, and the “deep-rooted Germanophobia among the US elite.”
