Stories from 10 July 2006
Nigeria: Code Unread
Musings of a Naijaman meets London mayor Ken Livingstone at an anti-racism festival and comments on the banning of the movie The Da Vinci Code in Nigeria.
Nepal: Army politics
Is the Nepali army accountable to the people of Nepal? United We Blog! on how the army runs like a parallel government in the country.
Ghana: Zidane reaction
Ghana-based David Ajao presents a round-up of blogger reaction to the sending off of French soccer captain Zinedine Zidane in the final of the 2006 World Cup in Berlin after he headbutted an Italian player.
Bangladesh: The immigrant parent
Drishtipat has a post on a Bangladeshi parent in the US grappling with all the medical advice being given to him before he goes to Bangladesh with his children.
Nepal: Ailing premier
Nepali Netbook on an iling premier and the politics of inertia. “Nepalis, for their part, are still trying to figure out why a premier with an unspecified ailment relating to the lungs returns from Bangkok after undergoing laser surgery of the prostate.”
Zambia: Open Source
Robert at CodeZed reports the arrival of Open Source Zambia, a new forum for open source software.
Nigeria: What's wrong?
Musing over a copy of Blaine Harden's book Africa: Dispatches From a Fragile Continent, Yebo Gogo asks what went wrong with Nigeria.
Sri Lanka: Tamil for the president
Thanesh poses a question on the nature of the Sri Lankan constitution. “Ok I heard from a friend that according to the constitution of Sri Lanka, a Sri Lankan Tamil or any other non-Buddhist for that matter will NOT be able to run for Office of the President.” The discussion...
Senegal: Migrant workers
Black Looks posts a poem about the lives of African migrants looking for work and a better life, and Nigeria, What's New? picks it up with a link to a photo-essay on the same subject.
Barbados: Senator launches web site
Both Barbados Free Press and the Barbados Labour Party blog report on the launch of Senator Lynette Eastmond's web site.
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Vincy Carnival
Abeni reports briefly, but not uncritcally, on some of St. Vincent's Carnival activities.
Lebanon: Thorny Internal Political, Social & Economic Issues and Gaza
Bloggers of the Lebanese blogosphere touched upon a wide range of topics this past week. Please bear patience and read on and I assure you that your journey will be rewarding. It is difficult to encompass all that was discussed. But among the posts are: How the failures of the “March 14 Movement” (Cedar Revolution) are leading to advances in the opposing camps, especially in the camp of “the Free Patriotic Movement” of Gen. Aoun. Reflection and analysis on the verbal clashes within/between some of the sects in Lebanon. Love it leave it relationship between Lebanon and Lebanese youth. The priorities that the politicians have which do not meet the basic needs of the people. A heavy attack on ATTAC which is a campaign against the WTO and on WTO too. Mistreatment of foreign maids working in Lebanon. Surprise predictions concerning the assassination of PM Rafic Hariri “Fair and balanced” reporting in the Arab media resulting in less reporting on the missiles that are actually killing the Palestinians everyday. An artist’s play on the cedar, the Lebanese national symbol, to reflect the internal political and factional strife plus the Lebanese infatuation with the world cup.
Egypt: Death Threats
Hossam el-Hamalawy post some troubling news that Youth for Change detainee Mohamed el-Sharqawi has been subject to death threats in Tora prison, where he’s currently detained.
Iran: History & Ideology
Farzaneh Ebrahimzadeh, who has studied history for about twenty years, talks about recent Abbas Salimi Namin's, head of Iranian Studies department in Tehran, interview with Sarmayeh newspaper. Salimi Namin says Persepolis, the ancient ceremonial capital of the second Iranian dynasty, was not constructed by Iranians and Persepolis was an unfinished...
Trinidad & Tobago: Baptising a window
Trinidadian artist/activist Elspeth Duncan “baptises” one of her artworks in the ocean, with interesting results.
Canada, Caribbean: Carifiesta photos
Caribb has a Flickr photoset devoted to the 32nd annual Carifiesta, Montreal's Caribbean street festival, which took place on July 8.
Moldova: Explosion in Transnistria
Vilhelm Konnander reports on last Thursday's blast in Tiraspol, the capital of the breakaway region of Transnistria: a territory which is “an ignored and absurd anachronism in contemporary Europe.”
Ukraine: The Crisis and Its Causes
LEvko of Foreign Notes writes about president Yushchenko's numerous mistakes and other factors, which have resulted in the current crisis.
Russia: Flickr Payment Trouble
Flickr user Anaderi – who lives and works in Moscow – reports a problem many people in certain countries (e.g. Russia, Ukraine) face when they attempt to upgrade their Flickr accounts to Pro status: their payments are not accepted. Anaderi is beginning to have doubts about Flickr: “I'm a bit...
Russia: Moscow Stiletto Run
Snowsquare.com writes about a “stiletto run” that took place in Moscow this past Saturday. To participate, one's heels had to be 9 cm or over. Two more similar races are being planned by Glamour magazine, a sponsor: in St Petersburg on July 22 and in Novosibirsk on July 23 .
Russia: Putin and Sex
Sean's Russia Blog quotes Vladimir Putin's response to an Internet user's question about sex: “‘I can't remember exactly when I did it for the first time,’ a laughing Putin said. ‘But I certainly remember when I did it the last time, to the exact minute.'”