Stories from 5 February 2007
Bolivia: A Cement Obelisk and Frozen Water Balloons
Cities and towns were on the mind of a handful of Bolivian bloggers this week. In December of 2006, the city of Cochabamba rolled out the red carpet and played host to a summit for South American presidents. In honor of the occasion, some of the local lawmakers proposed to...
Indonesia: Anti-Chinese Violence in Indonesia
Indonesia Matters points to a new book on Anti-Chinese violence that took place during the mid to late nineties in Indonesia.
East Timor: Reporters Without Borders Report on East Timor
Dili-gence comments on the Reporters Without Borders findings on press freedoms in East Timor and explains why he has no sympathy for the journalists who were in Timor from May to July last year.
Malaysia: Influential Blogs
Sabahan uses the blog ranking service at Technorati.com and comes up with a list of top 50 influential Malaysian blogs.
Foreseeing South Africa's Future Hegemony over Africa
Togolese origined France-based blogger Kangni Alem comments on a recent series of workshops on collective knowledge and practices in Africa organized by the Africa Centre in Cape Town, South Africa (Fr): “The Africa Centre is a project which foretells the future hegemony of South Africa on the rest of the...
Belize: Taiwan or China?
Belizean – The Belize News Blog publishes an article by Godfrey Smith analysing the benefits for Belize of establishing diplomatic ties with China rather than Taiwan.
Haiti: In praise of Barbancourt
Robert Miller at Haiti Innovation sings the praises of Haiti's famous Barbancourt rum, and quotes from an article which notes the role of Barbancourt in voodoo rituals.
Jamaica: Happy birthday, John Hearne
Geoffrey Philp marks the birthday of Jamaican novelist John Hearne: “He had to tread carefully, I suspect, as a white Jamaican who did not sound Jamaican, in a society that was changing rapidly and in which the privileges, which a generation before a person in his situation would have taken...
Jamaica: Police killings
In spite of the fact that five Jamaican policeman have been killed in as many weeks, bassChocolate finds it hard to empathise.
Jamaica: Paris-Brest-Paris qualifier
Francis Wade completes an 125-mile bike ride in Jamaica as part of the qualification process of the Paris-Brest-Paris race.
Guadeloupe: Dengue Fever/Chikungunya a Threat
Guadeloupe Attitude highlights (Fr) the story of Alexandre, a 6-month old Guadeloupean infant who passed away recently from dengue fever (one of two in the last month) and adds: “Authorities fear a resurgence of the dengue virus, chikungunya version. Transmitted by female mosquitoes, it is not mortal in its primary...
Cuba: No visas for American cyclists
Charly Morales Valido reports (ES) on the US government's refusal to grant US cyclists travel permits so they could contest the XXXII Vuelta a Cuba race, which takes place later this month. The 2003 edition of the race was won by American Todd Herriot.
Syria: Al Assad Interview
Blogger Joshua Landis, writing in Syria Comment, informs us that ABC News’ Diane Sawyer was back in Damascus where she interviewed President Bashar Al-Assad.
Bahrain: Mating Parrots
Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif has appointed himself the official parrot paparazzi. No sexually active parrot is safe from his prying eyes.
Saudi Arabia: Jail and Lashes for Partying
Or Does It Explode..reports that 20 people were sentenced to jail and lashes in Saudi Arabia for attending a party.
Saudi Arabia: C is for Corruption
Why do citizen have to put up with poor services in the same time when a very large part of the (Saudi) national budget is supposedly directed at healthcare?, asks blogger Saudi Jeans.
Chile: Library of National Congress Chooses Creative Commons
Creative Commons Chile announces [ES] the new website [ES] launch of the Library of the Chilean National Congress. All of the content on the site is published with an “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Chile” license.
USA, Colombia: “Nothing new for Plan Colombia 2″
“About an hour ago, the State Department released the broad outlines of its 2008 aid request. Its so-called “Function 150″ document gives us a rough, but pretty fair, estimate of what the Bush administration is asking Congress to give Colombia next year.” According to Adam Isacson of the Center for...
Argentina: “Recuperated Workplaces”
From Global Labor Strategies: “What happens when a group of workers take over their workplace and try to run it without private owners, professional managers, or the government? 10,000 workers in 200 workplaces in Argentina are trying to find out.”
Much ado in Zimbabwe
There was much ado in Zimbabwe over the last week. Much ado about nothing, that is. The biggest development in the beleagured nation's news was Gideon Gono, the controversial governor of Zimbabwe's central bank delivered a much anticipated monetary statement last week. Sadly, like everything else in the country, it...
Arabisc: Kuwaiti Looking for an Easy A
We may have all met them..at least those of us who have managed to secure straight As at school and university. While some us may shun them from the beginning, Kuwaiti blogger Jandeef couldn't shake this climber off his back that easily. He gives us a hilarious transcript of a...
