23 February 2007

Stories from 23 February 2007

Uzbekistan: Mathematical Expression

Claire Wilkinson discusses a report showing that medieval Islamic art shows an understanding of complex geometry that did not find mathematical expression until fairly recently. The researcher first became interested...

24 February 2007

Turkmenistan: Flurry of Activity

neweurasia reports on the flurry of personnel shuffling, diplomatic calls, and presidential edicts since Turkmenistan elected its new president, who, the post says, must shake things up in order to...

24 February 2007

Kazakhstan: Environmental Buyout

Ben Paarmann says that ChevronTexaco has long had problems with accumulating sulfur deposits at its Tengiz oil field in Kazakhstan. So why is the government suddenly threatening to punish the...

24 February 2007

Armenia: Dual Citizenship

At Life in Armenia, Raffi K. notes that dual citizenship is closer to becoming a reality and hopes that sticking points holding it up can be sorted out soon.

24 February 2007

Turkmenistan: Turkic Reunion?

At neweurasia Peter reports on how relations between Turkey and Turkmenistan are changing in the wake of the death of the country's former President Saparmurad Niazov.

24 February 2007

East Timor:

Teresa writes about the latest controversy in East Timor where a Timorese person was shot by an Australian peacekeeper. Both the Australian and the East Timorese recount different versions of...

24 February 2007

Jamaica: “Satan is Real”

Unreconstructed racists the Louvin Brothers, composers of the country classic “Satan is Real”, “would have been horrified to know that just near the equator hundreds of negroes were loving their...

23 February 2007

Hungary: Paedophilia Controversy

According to Pestcentric, “Hungary has one of the lowest age-of-consents in the EU at 14 years old” – and this is causing foreign media to announce that the country is...

23 February 2007

Europe: Pre-Lent Celebrations

Wu Wei writes on Pancakes racing in Britain on Shrove Tuesday, Uzgavenes in Lithuania, Maslenitsa in Russia, and Kurentovanje in Slovenia. Nami-Nami shares a recipe of Estonian lenten buns.

23 February 2007

Jamaica: Homophobia and violence

Leon Robinson prefaces a post about a series of brutal attacks on gay men in Jamaica by saying: “Homosexuality is frowned upon in Jamaica. Not because were “homophobic” (surely we...

23 February 2007