Stories from 9 June 2006
The Week That Was – Bolivian Blogs
The concept of sovereignty was a fundamental pillar during the Movimiento Al Socialismo’s (MAS) victorious campaign in last year’s elections. Claims of interference by foreign governments, most notably by the United States, in the internal affairs of Bolivia were the foundation for calls of increased sovereignty. A little more than...
Armenia, Azerbaijan: Karabakh's Position
The Basturma Chronicles offers up a paper examining the dynamics of the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Tajikistan: Dushanbe Real Estate
Elizabeth reports on Dushanbe real estate and the challenges in obtaining it.
Indonesia: Warning to Radical Groups
Indonesian blogger Marting Manurun in his post titled Radicals, beware! points to an announcement by Indonesian government that warns radical groups that the government would take serious actions against them. Martin asks “Now, with all the rhetoric, will the government finally face them strictly? Don’t think of making ‘special laws’,...
Kyrgyzstan: World Cup Betting
Tolkun Umaraliev says that “World Cup Crazies” in the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh are getting together throughout the competition to bet on and watch the games.
Mongolia: Rejected Press
Luke Distelhorst reports that a Mongolian journalist was turned away from a corporate press conference because that journalist has done a good job reporting on the company in the past.
Kazakhstan: Joining the BTC
Ben Paarmann notes that Kazakhstan has finally officially announced it will join the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and gives an overview of the country's oil export options.
Senegal: Failed Privatization of State Peanut Company
Over at Sunuguerte, Forum sur l'Arachide au Senegal, a blog on the peanut industry in Senegal, contributor Moubarak Lo writes (Fr): “[Privatized peanut venture] Sonacos may fail. Because of the role of the peanut as a wealth creator and as a poverty reducer in the rural world, the government must...
India: Predictions for World Cup
Bills of Lading makes predictions for World Cup 2006. If you're betting, please head over there and educate yourself a bit! “I was a 10-year old cricket obsessed kid during France '98 & the football World Cup meant nothing much to me. I only saw the finals & immediately took...
India: Politics of Rape
Guptavati writes on the politics of rape. “Rape.Sexual Abuse..These words stir up something very primitive, a fear,a reaction so primordial in me that it defies logic,reasoning and everything else in me that swears by my usually dry rationality.”
Sri Lanka: More Tamils flee to India
Transcurrents.com on Trincomalee tamils fleeing to India. “The impact of total war will be felt by all sections of Sri Lankan society. It is however the Sri Lankan Tamils of the North – East who will bear the brunt of renewed conflict and undergo the greatest degree of suffering.”
Togo: Soccer Team Demands Bonuses
Blogger Kangni Alem onTogo's soccer team (Fr): “Business is business and Togolese players are right, logically speaking, to privilege their bank accounts over the country's honor. They demand bonuses, pay them their bloody bonuses. After all that is the rule of thumb for all other national teams! (…) My advice...
Nepal: Football fever
United We Blog! on football fever as remembered from 1990 and other times.
Russia: G8 Security and Domestic Issues
Domestic politics seems to somewhat interfere with the attempts of St. Petersburg police to provide security for the upcoming G8 Summit (July 15-17). LJ user aneta_spb, a journalist, retells a friend's story (RUS): There's been much noise in the [state-funded] mass media about pre-Summit security, about fighting xenophobes, fascists and...
Jamaica: The “neighbourhood crackhead”
“The murder rate has hit its all time high in Jamaica, but yet sometimes I feel very removed from it. Nobody in my family seems to be perturbed,” begins Back on the Rock, as she tells the story of the “neighbourhood crackhead” who keeps stealing things from her house in...
Trinidad and Tobago: Budget increase
Club Soda and Salt condemns the Trinidad and Tobago government's decision to increase the year's spending by TT$4 billion, including “$650 million … for continuing gasoline subsidies. These are meant to protect the Trinidadian public from the rising price of oil. This is incredibly poor policy”.
Trinidad and Tobago: World Cup fever
“Up at the airport, the roundabout is festooned with flags and twenty-foot mascots playing steel pans and guitars. I followed a taxi into the car park, and it had I IS A WARRIOR TOO splashed across the entire back window. We are all instructed to wear red for the foreseeable...
Caribbean: Hurricane unpreparedness?
As hurricane season begins, Taran Rampersad worries that “the Caribbean in general can't handle a Category 3 hurricane. All everyone is discussing at this point is how fast one can recover”.
Guyana, Barbados: Happy birthday, Carter and Lamming
Geoffrey Philp sends birthday greetings to two major West Indian writers: the late Guyanese poet Martin Carter, and the Barbadian novelist George Lamming.
DRC Roundup: Elections, Mining Corruption, Peacekeepers & More
With July 30th elections fast approaching, the blogosphere's attention remains fixed on the Democratic Republic of the Congo's uncertain political future. Congolese opposition bloggers continue their criticism of the elections and of a political transition process they see as unfair, while Western bloggers and expatriates in the Congo write about...
Slovakia: Players in the June Election, Part 2
Slovakia goes to the polls on June 17, and Lemuel of Deleted by Tomorrow continues his educating and entertaining series on the Slovak politicians – The good, the bad, the ugly (Part 2: The Ugly).
