Stories from 26 July 2006
Belarus: Milinkevich Detained
Andrei Khrapavitski reports that opposition leader Aleksandr Milinkevich got detained by the traffic police in the town of Polatsk. [UPDATE: Milinkevich has been released.]
Belarus: A Youth Movement and Other Enemies
TOL's Belarus Blog writes about a new oppositional youth movement, Bunt, and the current regime's actions against its activists. Also, there's an entry about an attack on a Latvian diplomat in Minsk.
Bulgaria: Travelling From Romania
Andy H of Csikszereda Musings writes about his travel to and in Bulgaria.
Somaliland, Somalia: Journalistic criticism
Guest-blogging on the Voice of Somaliland Diaspora, Faysal Diriye launches an attack on journalistic standards among Somali Web sites which he describes as Siadist. “Cheap shot journalism! Too subjective, too emotional, and as boring as hell! They often shed more tears than thunder clouds could spill,” he writes.
Albania: Death Notices
David in Albania writes about Albanian ways of grieving.
Albania: Tourism
Our Man In Tirana writes about Albania's potential as a tourist destination.
Serbia: Macedonian Gastarbeiters
Dictionary of the Serbian Mess writes about Macedonian miners working at Serbian mines.
Serbia: Promotion Slogan
Desperate Serbwife suggests a slogan to promote Serbia abroad: “It's Springtime in Serbia.”
Poland: “Rightwards Shift”
Europhobia suspects something wrong may be taking place in Poland's politics.
Liberia: Lights on in Monrovia
Yebo Gogo takes note of the restoration of street lighting in the Liberian capital of Monrovia for the first time in more than a decade, under the watchful eye of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. “Rebuilding the nation's shattered infrastructure is the first step to rebuilding Liberia. So far, Johnson Sirleaf's...
Ethiopia: Eritrean weapons
Ethioblog posts news reports quoting the Somali government as saying that Eritrea has sent a plane full of weapons to the Islamists who now control the southern part of the country, attracting a wide range of opinion from commentators.
South Africa: Racial categories
Farrel Lifson writes at politics.za about recent allegations that the African National Congress (ANC) is bringing back the language of racial categorisation.
Nigeria: Sheraton lobby
Naijablog is in the lobby of the Sheraton, taking advantage of the wifi: “Behind me, a noisy group of slavic-speaking men are getting more and more drunk and voluble. Prostitutes wander in in preparation for the night's arrangements. Elegant African women in native saunter past. Business men arrive for meetings....
Oaxaca: Photographing the Teacher's Strike
Mark in Mexico headed down to the city's Zócolo to assess and photograph ground zero of the teacher's strike. He describes the scene with patent sarcasm: “I took no photos because here is where most of the anarchists, socialists, communists and revolutionary groups have set up shop. There is every...
Argentina: Music: Alternarama – Destierro
Following the popular release of The Kyoto Connection, Alternarama now launches Destierro, an ethereal album of ten tracks published under a Creative Commons Non-Derivative 2.5 license. The title track, Destierro, makes for great getting-ready-to-go-to-work music.
Chile, Argentina: One Laptop per Child
Tomás Pollak writes that the Organization of American States supports Nicholas Negroponte's One Laptop per Child plan as a solution to the digital divide throughout Latin America (ES). Meanwhile, Ariel Vercelli has posted an audio file (mp3 and ogg) of a recent discussion about implementing One Laptop per Child in...
Latin America: MSN Takes Down Website
Western Hemisphere Policy Watch claims that MSN has taken down the website of a group claiming to represent Hezbollah in Latin America for “administrative purposes”.
Ecuador, Venezuela: Chavez Visits Quito
Journalist C.J. Schexnayder gives some context to his recently published article on Hugo Chavez's visit to Ecuador.
Guyana: US interference?
Guyana 360 asks why the US government has revoked the travel visa of Guyana's acting police commissioner Henry Green. “Instead of openly stating their position, the US resorts to public pressure and embarrasement.”
Barbados: Save Worrell's house
My Turn–a new blog started by Carson Cadogan, who Barbados Free Press describes as “The Barbados King of Letters to the Editor”–argues that some of the public funds being spent on the redevelopment of Barbados's main cricket venue, Kensington Oval, should be used to restore the boyhood home of cricket...
Bahamas: Consequences of foreign investment
Bahama Pundit's Nicolette Bethel worries about the consequences of “development” funded by foreign investment. “While it may have been wise a decade ago to invite all and sundry to consider The Bahamas as a good place to do business … foreign investment cannot remain an end in itself.”
