Stories from 25 January 2007
Latvia: Border Dispute
Marginalia writes about Latvia's border dispute with Russia and about “putting things in order”: “When a state “puts things in order,” it has a sad tendency to forget real people and real places, methinks.”
Poland: The Pope's Miracles and Retirement
The beatroot writes on John Paul II, retirement and miracles.
Poland: HIV and Politics
The beatroot writes about the politics surrounding the case of the African refugee infecting women with HIV: “This time it's not AIDS and gays, however, it’s AIDS and Africans.”
Russia: Vladivostok and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk
White Sun of the Desert offers a Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk perspective on the city of Vladivostok.
Former Soviet Union: Cockroaches and Living Conditions
Russian Marketing Blog writes about cockroaches and life in the former Soviet Union: “I don’t know if there’s any other country outside the Soviet block where doctors, drunks and mad babushkas live side by side.”
Russia: Driving in Moscow
Russia Blog writes about the new law banning migalki and posts pictures taken in Moscow during a recent visit.
Russia: More on Being in Russia for Too Long
Ruminations on Russia contributes to the 42 “you know when you've been in Russia too long when.”
Russia: Images from Siberia and Vladimir
From Russia With Blog posts image videos from Siberia and Vladimir.
Russia: Conversation With Litvinenko's Widow, Part 5
David McDuff of A Step At A Time translates the fifth installment of the Russian-language interview with Aleksandr Litvinenko’s widow Marina.
Elections in Serbia
The first preliminary results of the Serbian parliamentary poll arrived less than an hour after the ballots closed at 20:00 on January 21. Some started celebration while members of the parties that got less than the required 5 percent of the votes burst into despair. The Democratic Party (whose slogan...
Guatemala: Video Shows Natural Beauty
Engasado, in a post titled “Guatemala, soul of the earth”, posts a video of the country's many attractions.
Trinidad & Tobago: National shutdown
Taran Rampersad, Roslyn and Hassan Voyeau weigh in on the national shutdown which is supposed to be taking place in Trinidad and Tobago today. Taran has also posted a photo of the promotional flyer on Flickr.
Jordan: Segregated Weddings
Jordanian blogger Khalidah Mufleh is just back from a segregated wedding in Jordan, where the women and men attend separate parties. “I am against these kinds of parties because chaos conquers in them. I believe that it is tidier and classier for the whole family to be seated on the...
Lebanon At the Brink of a Civil War
Lebanon is at the brink of a civil war, writes Jordanian blogger Tololy. To add insult to injury, she adds: “There is occupation and civil war in Iraq, occupation and apartheid in Palestine, internal turmoil in Egypt, war in Somalia, multiple problems in Jordan, backwardness in Saudi Arabia, armed division...
India: Mylapore Festival 2007
Metroblogging Chennai has notes from Mylapore Festival 2007. “Outside, once you cross the archway that proclaims the Mylapore Festival, the city follows the usual Mylapore routine: rickshaw and cycles tinkle along the roads pedestrians squeeze by after office hours and harried home-makers and office-goers alike stop by the pavement to...
India: Cricket Advert Gone Bad
The advertisements for the India-West Indies cricket series don't quite do the trick. Almost As Good As Chocolate on all that is wrong with the advert. “At worst, these ads are racist. At best, they shout out a message that Indians are not hospitable and treat our guests terribly.”
Bangladesh: ULFA and Assam
A separatist armed outfit in India causes trouble for Bangladesh. Rezwan on how the government needs to make it's position clear. “With their involvement in the terrorist attacks in Bangladesh or the killing of the poor Biharis in Assam, ULFA is proving that they are just a mercenary group quite...
Pakistan: A Nobel for Edhi
All Things Pakistan hopes that Edhi gets a Nobel Prize and urges his readers to contribute to an ongoing initiative. “Irrespective of whether Abdul Sattar Edhi is a Pakistani or not, irrespective of how much most Pakistanis hold his selfless zeal in reverence – and irrespective also of all the...
Bangladesh: The Bubble
Salam Dhaka on the gaps observed in Bangladesh. “There is a huge gap between what the political circles, elites and “intellectuals” want to talk about and what the middle and lower middle class care about. If you talk to people in the lower middle class then the disconnect gets worse.”
Armenia: Reconciliation
Zarchka writes about the astonishment and admiration in Armenia prompted by the number of Turks who came out to mourn Hrant Dink. She hopes that Dink's final legacy will be reconciliation between Turks and Armenians.
Armenia: Bangladesh
Tirami Su explains how Yerevan ended up with a neighborhood called Bangladesh.
