Stories from 23 January 2007
Iran:Ahmadinejad's Words are from Mars
Shekkar says Ahmadinejad's words on TV tonight, makes him/her sicker.The blogger says Iranian president pretends inflation is the result of former government's policy.The blogger adds Ahmadinejad says United Nations sanctions have had no cost for Iran.The blogger writes it seems his words are from planet Mars[Fa].
Lebanon: Opposition Getting Violent
Charles Malik from Lebanon says the opposition “is restricting movement throughout the capital and is intent on destroying the environment and giving everyone lung cancer by burning tyres across the country.”
Palestinian Blogger Without Electricity
Palestinian blogger Fayyad gives us a sneak preview of his visit to Palestine at Kabobfest, where his little village was without electricty for the duration of his stay.
Abu Aardvark: Spotlight on the Sunni-Shia Question
Abu Aardvark sheds some light on the Shia-Sunni conflict, following a visit to Egypt. His comments are timely considering the increasing human toll from the civil war in Iraq with Iran being accused of instigating sectarian strife in the Arab world.
Bahrain: Arabic Blogs Translated
Bahraini blogger Bint Battuta has decided to translate some of the Arabic Bahraini blogs for English-language readers. This week she translates two posts from the hilarious Zarnooq Bahrani and she promises more translations soon.
Egypt: Dubai Sky-Scraper ‘Not Amusing’
Egyptian blogger Tom Gara isn't amused with the design of Dubai's latest skyscraper and is thanking the stars that it isn't being built in Cairo.
Nigeria: Nigerians abroad do not need to go home!
Omodudu does not think that Nigerians living abroad need to go back home,”Often we hear Nigerians living abroad declare, “I am going home”. I have news for all of you, Nigeria is not in dire need of your presence, actually you may be adding to the problem of overcrowding on...
India: In Bihar
Feringhee: The Indian Diaries writes on going to Bihar. “Every week, the paper has an account of a prominent person's child, or even just successful middle-class person's, kidnapped and held for ransom. The headlines of the “Bihar Digest” section sometimes defy belief (“Child's fingers chopped off for stealing spinach”; “Son...
India: Indians in Kenya
Sepia Mutiny on the Indian community in Kenya. “Today, the community in Kenya is perceived, not without justification, as wealthy and aloof. Rajan is critical of what he sees as the community's lack of engagement with Kenya's many challenges.”
D.R. of Congo: the richness of Lingala
Blogging from the Democratic Republic of Congo, John writes about the richness and complexity of Lingala: Then there’s the word “poto” which I think is “mpoto” in the classic Lingala (but that’s a whole other discussion…). It means Europe, but I’ve discovered that it also means the U.S. I haven’t...
Sri Lanka: Conflict and Art
groundviews on conflict and its impact on art. “Among those artists who regularly emphasize the impact of conflict on society are Sri Lankan duo Bandu Manemperi and Roger Constantine. Their most recent exhibition was based on how human emotions have been numbed by frequent and continuous violence.”
Nepal: Maoists and Mainstream
Nepali Netbook on the Maoist way of arms and doing things and how it's impacted the mainstream parties and politics. “By the end of 1976, when B.P. Koirala finally fused nationalism and democracy into a plea for reconciliation, it was pretty clear that the Nepali Congress’ principal foreign sponsor had...
Bangladesh: End to end solution for religious events
Salam Dhaka on glimpses of life in Bangladesh, like meeting Huzur. “You want an end to end solution for all your religious events? Hanif is your man. In 2 hours notice he will buy a goat, bring in a professional butcher and get it all done. If you want the...
Armenia: Hrant Dink Memorial
AllFOLK's Blog and Oneworld Multimedia have photos from the public memorial in Yerevan for Hrant Dink.
Tajikistan: IRP Strategy
At neweurasia, Alexander reports on the new political strategy of the Islamic Renaissance Party.
Kazakhstan: Foreigners & Oil
The Roberts Report explains why Kazakhstan's government is taking steps to decrease the number of foreign workers in the oil sector and stop the resale of licenses to develop oil deposits.
Kyrgyzstan: Government Stalemate
Sean Roberts says that Kyrgyzstan's president may have backed the parliament into a corner again by putting it in the position of accepting his nominee for prime minister or facing dismissal.
Kyrgyzstan: Foreign Policy
Inga reports on Kyrgyzstan's foreign policy strategy at neweurasia.
Tajikistan: Pearl of the East
Gulru begins blogging about Tajikistan for neweurasia with a post on the city of Khujand, the Pearl of the East.
Kyrgyzstan: Cutting Down Corruption
Yulia reports on a novel proposal, surely to never to come into law, for fighting corruption among state employees in Kyrgyzstan, severing of digits and hands.
Malawi/Zambia: Remembering John Chilembwe, Debate Over Using Yahoo Messenger At Work and ICTs and Gender Based Violence
Malawian blogger Soyapi Mumba is excited about the introduction of Internet and Pay-Per-View TV services by Malawi Telecom (MTL): Malawi's Internet infrastructure, especially to people's homes, is very poor and for MTL to provide these service, it means they will either drastically improve the current infrastructure, or introduce new alternatives...
