Stories from 22 January 2007
Russia: Conversation With Litvinenko's Widow
David McDuff of A Step At A Time is translating parts of the conversation with Aleksandr Litvinenko's widow Marina, recorded by the Israeli journalist Natasha Mozgovaya (LJ user mozgovaya): part 1, part 2, part 3.
Iran:FarsiTube
FarsiTube is based on YouTube and you can discover a lot of video clips about Iran or related stories.
Iran:Too expensive tomatoes and American warships
ViewfromIran talks about a hot topic in Iran:the price of tomatoes.The blogger shares with us her connversation with a couple of friends. The blogger writes:“Why is everything suddenly so expensive?” “There are American warships in the Persian Gulf,” I say. By the way,“Ahmadinejad says If tomatoes are expensive then come...
Pakistan: Chinese on a Pakistani vehicle
Chinese and Japanese languages make an appearance on transport vehicles in Pakistan. Light Within says “Over the past few years, Chinese and Japanese characters have increasingly appeared on Pakistani public transport as decorations. .. I’ve been fortunate to have a Chinese language expert at home as my wife so we...
Nepal: Predictions for the blogosphere
Nepali Voices has predictions for the Nepali Blogosphere in 2007. “The biggest catalyst in the increasing number of blogs will be the traditional media. It will be difficult to leave out the buzz of blogs. They will covering blogs and blogging thus promoting the ‘blog literacy’.
Nepal: Inheritance of Loss
Deepak Adhikari on Kiran Desai's Inheritance of Loss. “It was nice to read the story of Gorkhaland movement at a time when the demand is resurfacing. …I was in this small hill station Kalimpong in mid 1990s. A religious group called Krishna Pranami from Itahari organized a tour to Kalimpong...
Bangladesh: The racist subcontinent
Reacting to the Big Brother Racism controversy, Mezba says “The whole subcontinent. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh. We discriminate daily based on caste, skin fairness, gender, religion (or inter-religion as in Sunni/Shia so on). Yet we are always the first ones to criticize.”
India: Blogging Monkeys
A mainstream media newspaper publishes a cartoon that seems to hint that bloggers are nothing but typing monkeys. Marketing Practice comments on the cartoon in the context of Consumer Generated Media. “The depiction of the blogger as a monkey also reveals another side of the arrogance: do the editors feel...
Uganda: Bloggers Gathering, Best of Blogs, Ugandan Mercenaries in Iraq And Recolonization of Africa
As manic as a beat poetry gathering in New York or a circumcision ceremony in eastern Uganda, last Thursday's Ugandan Blogger Happy Hour was a mirthful gathering of creativity and wit. Poetry was recited, radical political doctrines defended, and blogging obsessions confessed. The first gathering of its kind in Uganda,...
Benin: Government Cracks Down on Telecom Sector
Says Ouestaf.com (Fr): “A study commissioned by Benins’ government came to the “bitter conclusion” that great anarchy prevails in the country's telecom sector, inciting the goverment to announce a series of drastic measures.”
Terrorism in Assam and Illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, a take in Hindi!
These last two weeks have seen fairly good amount of activity in the Hindi Blogosphere. With the political & other elections season coming up, its hard to ignore it & the resulting activity. So while Rachna composed a poem on elections describing how the environment would be in a village...
Thailand: Bangkok Bombs
Agamsgecko writes about the latest angle in the on-going investigation into the New Year's eve bombing in Bangkok. Investigators now suspect the involvement of a regional militant group Jemaah Islamiyah‘s hand in the terrorist act.
Vietnam: Lantern Festival
Backwater Views urges those visiting Saigon to drop in on the Lantern festival happening at Saigon Zoo. “Supposedly about 40 artists worked on the lanterns that are on display during January, depicting famous sights from around the world. It's only 35 000 vnd if you're in town and well worth...
Singapore: The First Fast Food Restaurant
Lam Chun See and his friend Peter Tan remember the first fast food restaurant in Singapore.”I doubt many young people know that Singapore’s first fast food restaurant was not from MacDonald’s or KFC …”
Armenia: Mourning Hrant Dink
Zarchka writes about mourning Hrant Dink and attending the vigil for him in Yerevan. Oneworld Multimedia has photos of the vigil as well as many more posts on Dink.
Cambodia: Getting Married to the Family
Vutha writes about the tradional marriages in Cambodia and the customs associated with such a marriage including the dowry that the groom's family has to pay to to the bride's family.
Armenia: Land of Bisexuality
One Armenian World writes about bisexuality in Armenia.
Myanmar: The Joys of Rangoon
Don Gilliland visits the Myanmarese capital city Yangoon (or Rangoon as it was formarly known) and gives us a glimpse into some of the fun things to do in Rangoon.
Cambodia: Involve People in ASEAN
Vireak in Cambodia argues that for the regional group ASEAN(Association of South East Asian Nations) to succeed, it needs more involvement of the people living in the region rather than the politicians. “Politically, we’re divided but our people have generally been getting along well. Why not using the people power...