16 February 2007

Stories from 16 February 2007

China: Blood Money

  16 February 2007

Toadi from interlocals.net has translated a recent report from Huaxia Times(zh) on the operation of a blood collection station in Shanxi where blood plamas is extracted from rural pleasants like a factory to supply a pharmaceutical manufacturer in Beijing.

Ukraine: Corruption

  16 February 2007

Ukrainian journalist Yuri Zushchik spent this Valentine's Day in the company of his wife and her close friend, Sveta, who is dating a “mid-level employee” of the National Bank of Ukraine. On his blog at Korrespondent.net news site, Zushchik shares (RUS) what Sveta has revealed about the origins of her...

Omar Al Sharif a Bully?

  16 February 2007

Egyptian-born actor Omar Al Sharif, 74, is a bully, writes Issandr El Amrani following news reports that Sharif, who starred in Doctor Zhivago and Lawrence of Arabia, punched a Guatemalan immigrant and called him a “stupid Mexican” in Beverly Hills.

China: Sexologist shuts up

  16 February 2007

Renowned Chinese sociologist Li Yinhe announced last week that she had been told in no uncertain terms, by people whose identity she declined to identify, to shut up. A longtime fixture of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Li is known mostly for her liberal attitudes towards a whole range...

Sri Lanka: Obama and Identity

  16 February 2007

Indi.ca has a post on identity in politics, now at centre-stage because of Obama in the US. “Obama is in many ways like myself, a product of the modern age of communications and international travel. By a different shuffle he could be Kenyan, Indonesian or any number of things, but...

India: A broom seller

  16 February 2007

Swajana profiles a man who sells brooms. “Once a family business has been started it will very likely be handed down from generation to generation. Our video here is about one such enterprising young man who sells brooms and mops – going from house to house – he uses his...

Nepal: Madheshi vs. Madhise

  16 February 2007

The politics of terminology and the other way round explained at Madhesh Blog. “From historical point of view, the identity “Madheshi” connects people living in Madhesh with their thousands years of history of living in Madhesh, whereas identity “Nepali” refers to their 200 years of history since the conquest of...

Bangladesh: In conversation with Raman Mundair

  16 February 2007

Black and Gray in conversation with Raman Mundair. “All these things are aspects of me and I have many aspects. I am also human, artist, British, Sikh, Indian etc. I find it difficult to reduce myself to one singular identity. My strength is in my multiple identities. Of course I...

India: A positive peace

  16 February 2007

Cuckoo's Call on building positive peace between the Hindu and Muslim communities. ‘Positive peace’ is rooted in shared recognition by Hindus and Muslims of the all-round destructiveness of the communal divide, and the need to act purposefully to address this. Positive peace goes beyond tolerance, to embrace ongoing dialogue, mutual...

Armenia: Prosperous Armenia

  16 February 2007

CRD/TI Armenia Election Monitor 2007 reports on Gagik Tsarukian’s Prosperous Armenia part. Tsarukian's party is popular with the poor for its charity, which critics label vote buying.