Stories from 16 June 2006
Armenia: Businesses Threaten to Close
Christian Garbis writes that the appreciation of the Armenian dram has led some Armenian businesses to threaten to close up in Armenia and move to neighboring countries.
Kazakhstan: OSCE Chairmanship
Adam Kesher of neweurasia writes about Kazakhstan's bid for the OSCE chairmanship in 2009 (RUS).
Mongolia: Protest Claims Life
Yan notes that a protester in Mongolia has died after a confrontation with security forces. The protest was over mining issues and Yan says that the ongoing public debate over mining in Mongolia could stand to be more civil.
Georgia: The Paradox of Choice
Sue of SueAndNotU writes about Georgia's regional food specialties and remarks that the constant availability of foods in the United States denies Americans some of the great pleasures of unavailability.
Turkmenistan: Scorned
Peter says that Turkmenistan's president has lost patience with foreign powers making plans for his country without consulting him and notes that this is translating into opportunities for Russian and Chinese companies.
Uruguay: Music: Dani Umpi
From Uruguay, here is a handful of songs by painter, sculptor, singer and songwriter, Dani Umpi.
Ecuador: 3-0 Against Costa Rica
Ecuador is ecstatic with their (ES) victory (ES) over Costa Rica.
Costa Rica: Grown Men Crying
Uri Ridelman has some entertaining pictures from the first day of the World Cup when Costa Rica played tournament host Germany. In a related note, Bob Glass explains why “grown men were crying in San José.”
Ukraine: Books, Football and Politics
Dan McMinn of Orange Ukraine updates his virtual library of books dealing with Ukraine and writes about two depressing subjects: Ukrainian politics and football.
Colombia: Finding Less or Less to Find?
Adam Isacson offers three leading explanations as to why Colombia's security forces have interdicted less cocaine the first half of this year than in recent, previous years.
Bolivia: A De-dolarizing Rumor
Alvaro Ruiz-Navajas publishes a rumor he received via email that Bolivian President “Evo [Morales] will de-dolarize the Bolivian economy and turn all deposits held in American dollars (USD) to Bolivian Bolivianos (BOB) at an exchange rate of BOB5 per USD, effectively stealing 37% of the savings of people who hold...
Ukraine: Blue-Orange Coalition?
LEvko of Foreign Notes writes about the disappointing possibility of a coalition between Yushchenko's Our Ukraine and Yanukovych's Party of the Regions: “Does anyone really know anymore what he really wants or in what direction he is heading?”
Ukraine: Hotels
Varske of Wu Wei writes about Kyiv's hotels: “Kiev hotels are notorious for being expensive, whether good or bad. At least now there are some international chains trying to set standards for the locals. Yesterday I rang up a small hotel recommended by a work colleague, who like it so...
Mexico: Participitory Radio
Radio host (and now blogger) Ana Maria Salazar invites readers to participate in an online chat following her Saturday night radio program “Seguridad Total.” Also on Saturday, a gay pride parade in Mexico City.
Bosnia-Herzegovina: Trip to Srebrenica
Ed of Balkan Baby writes about his trip to Srebrenica.
Serbia & Montenegro: SCG Team Defeated by Argentina
Daniel Ginsberg of The Native Speaker writes about the sad end of the Serbia & Montenegro team – “the only team representing a country that doesn't exist.”
Ukraine, Russia: Dreams of a Biased Person
Ukrainian LJ user parasolya may admit to her anti-Russian bias a bit too eagerly, but all she wants is for Ukraine to be on friendly – and neutral – terms with Russia, a democratic variation of the USSR, sort of (UKR): I've borrowed a Russia [photo] album at work, they...
India: Flickr and Picasa
Amit Agarwal compares Flickr and the recently released Google Picasa photo album service.
India: Technology and Culture
Perspectives on technology and culture in India. Dina has a set of interesting observations on technology, usage and hardware in India.
Indonesia: World Cup Fever & Minister Blog
Despite Indonesia never reaches final round of Football/Soccer World Cup post-1945 of its independence, soccer has always been the most favorite sports ever in the country. So, no wonder then if majority of Indonesian bloggers give one or two postings dedicated to the biggest event on earth now being held...
Arabisc: The Arabic Bloggers Ken, Media, Anti-Blogging and the World Cup
Blogging nightmare… Starting with hot news this week, it looks that the Egyptian blogsphere is going to have more hard time in the near future. Following Aljazeera's one hour TV documentary (Arabic) about blogging and its role in the political scene in the Egyptian street, one of the oldest, biggest...