Stories from 7 June 2006
Mongolia: Whaling Support
Luke Distelhorst reports that Mongolia, a country without a single inch of ocean coastline, has come out as a supporter of whaling. Like many other countries with a newfound support for whaling, Mongolia receives aid from Japan.
Armenia: Record Industry
Raffi, whose work has been victim to piracy, writes about Armenia's record industry.
Tajikistan: EC Aid Wrapup
James summarizes a Russian language post on the final humanitarian aid project of the European Comission in Tajikistan.
Kyrgyzstan: EKOIS
CXW says that blogging is increasingly popular in Kyrgyzstan and profiles the blog of the EKOIS project which provides loads of information on environmental issues in Kyrgyzstan.
Armenia: No-Smoking Day
Ani reports on the two celebrations of World No-Smoking Day in Armenia this year and discusses smoking in the country.
Costa Rica: Unions Protest
Bob Glass writes that unions in Costa Rica will take to the streets today, one day earlier than planned.
Bermuda: Cruise ship runs aground
Both Sean and The Limey post photos sent in by readers of a cruise ship that ran aground off the coast of Bermuda. Christian Dunleavy suggests jokingly that the ship was piloted by Lt. Col. David Burch, and run aground in a effort to distract the public from a news...
Brazil: Landless Workers’ Movement
Luís Afonso Assumpção and Justin Delacour have two very different views of Brazil's Landless Workers’ Movement.
Bahamas: Comparing immigration policies
Larry Smith compares the immigration policies of the US and the Bahamas: “Although the Bush Administration can be blamed for many things, the immigration plan it rolled out two and a half years ago was a far-reaching reform that should become a model for our own efforts to deal with...
West Indies: Mockery not cricket
A West Indian sports commentator's mimicry of an Indian cricket fan's commentary in Hindi is “not cricket”, says Barbadian blogger Titilayo.
Mexico: Who Won Last Night's Presidential Debate?
Eduardo Arcos asks his readers “who won last night's presidential debate? So far there's some consensus that Lopez Obrador performed best. Isopixel says that site traffic on Chilanga Banda, which was liveblogging the debate almost doubled during those two hours. In English, Alvaro Ruiz-Navajas and Boz both offer their analysis.
Trindad & Tobago: Looking homeward
London-based Trinidadian blogger Seldo grapples with the idea of returning to Trinidad. In his lengthy and eloquent post he asks hard questions of himself and his homeland and contemplates the role a white, privileged, gay Caribbean man can play in shaping his country's destiny.
Caribbean: Reason and decentering
After observing the behaviour of some university professors at two recent conferences in the Caribbean, Professor Zero wonders, among other things, whether academics who consider reason “oppressive” might be guilty of bad faith.
Latin America: Aggregating Aggregators
Blogs de Bolivia points us [ES] to Blogosfera Hispana, an aggregator of Latin American aggregators.
Argentina: Music: Los Alamos
Los Alamos is quite the international band: based in Buenos Aires, with a lead singer from the U.S. and an album soon to be produced in Brazil. Fernando Casale has posted two sample tracks.
Nepal: Army and People
United We Blog! covers the aspect of bringing Nepal Army under civilian control from an American perspective – “Mike Bailey, a retired US army colonel addresses a video conference from Washington DC organized by the American Center in Kathmandu.”
Sri Lanka: Tsunami Refugee Camp
Shimmi has a compelling photograph of girls in a Tsunami refugee camp.
India: Living with HIV
Lives in Focus profiles Shabana and podcasts an interview with her. “Shabana, 20, realized she was HIV+ after her husband’s health began rapidly deteriorating. A Muslim woman, she now serves as a counselor trying to educate those in her community about the dangers of HIV/AIDS and how it spreads. “
India: Nepotism, Governance and the Congress
Rana on Rahul Gandhi's visit to Singapore, the nepotistic politics in the Congress and why Singapore's governance may not be relevant to India. “That is the tragedy of India. A country with more than one billion people, it is ruled by a party which is bound together only by allegiance...
Hong Kong: Bus Uncle attacked
Bus Uncle, whose rise to infamy was aided largely by the translations of EastSouthWestNorth blogger Roland Soong is, as seen in Soong's most recent post on the subject, starting to see his fortunes turn. Soong translates: “Bus Uncle was assaulted in Mongkok when four people charged into the restaurant where...
Somalia: Change of power in Mogadishu
It seems Islamist forces have ousted US-backed warlords from the centre of the Somali capital Mogadishu according to Fontaine at Yebo Googo, but warns that although the fighting is over the balance of power is fragile and the future of the country uncertain.