Stories from 4 April 2007
Tunisia: IMF Evaluation of Banking Sector
Zizou from Djerba points to [Fr] an IMF report evaluating the Tunisian banking sector and adds: “To my knowledge, no Tunisian press organ has mentionned it.” The blogger echoes the report in expressing concerns about the credit sector.
Cambodia: Election Losers Joining Forces
Details are Sketchy comments on the news that two of the worst performers in the recent commune elections in Cambodia, ,Prince Norodom Ranariddh and opposition leader Sam Rainsy are joining forces. “This really is beyond pathetic. Out of the 1,621 commune-level positions up for grabs in last Sunday’s poll, Prince...
Cambodia: Origins of a Cambodian Dish
Phnomenon is trying to trace the origins of a Cambodian dish called amok trei . At the risk of being “pistol-whipped by a motivated official from the Ministry of Tourism “, the blogger suggests that the dish might have originally come from some other South East Asian neighbor of Cambodia.
Bolivia: Joan Baez and Mimi Farina
Professor Zero, in her search for Peruvian cuecas, discovers a YouTube video of Joan Baez and sister Mimi Farina singing a Bolivian hymn written by Apolinar Camacho at a performance at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in New York.
Chile: Two Gunshots Downstairs
“My lifelong quest for cheap rent has taught me a thing or two about gunshots,” foreshadows Chileno. [Warning, somewhat graphic images.]
Armenia: More Drams
The Armenian Economist reports that more cash is moving around in the Armenian economy.
Armenia: Run for President
Think you know how to run Armenia? Then this is the place to participate in a virtual race for the presidency.
Tajikistan: Bringing Treasure Home
At neweurasia, Vadim reports that Tajikistan's government is trying to convince the London Museum to return the Oxus Treasure, an important collection of Achaemenid Persian metalwork.
Lessons from the Free Kareem campaign
Even though the “Free Kareem” campaign has not yet achieved its primary goal of getting the 22-old blogger Kareem Nabel Sulaiman released from the prison where he is sentenced to spend the next four years for insulting Islam and the Egyptian president Hosni Moubarek, support for the case is growing...
Iran:Shirin Ebadi asks for a referandum on nulcear question
Cyrus Online[Fa] reports Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize winner and human rights activist, asks government to organise a referendum on nuclear question. She says if the majority of Iranians reject government's nuclear policy, it means they are not going to pay the price for sanctions and military interventions.
Yemen: Widening Secratrian Rift
Blogger Jane Novak links to an article which sheds light on a widening rift in the relations between various sectarian and religious groups in Yemen.
Iraq: On Life in a War Zone
Iraqi blogger Mama shares with us the horrors of living in war-torn Iraq here. “To see smashed car, due to explosion ,bomb or other accident, became familiar to anyone go through Iraqi roads. To be in your house , work , school ,or even in hospital church or mosque a...
Iraq: Iran Attack Rumours
Blogger and journalist Christopher Allbritton, who covers Iraq, disputes newspaper reports that the US will attack Iran on Friday. “Don’t believe it. I’m due to be on board the USS Stennis, believed to be one of the ships taking part in this attack, next week — and it won’t even...
Egypt: Hypocritical Historians
Egyptian blogger Zeinobia accuses historians from time immemorial of being hypocrites. “Really we are since the beginning of history big fat hypocrites who only mention their rulers success but not their defeats never , we even change in the history to make them appear victorious !!” she writes.
Sri Lanka: Human Rights
groundviews on the regime's defenses about human rights violation wearing thin. “There is no escaping the conclusion that the regime is bent on a military solution to the conflict and that as far as human rights is concerned it is a toss up between a missing gene and being mala...
Egypt: Bloggers Detained .. Again .. and Released
In what has now become the norm, two prominent Egyptian bloggers, along with a human rights lawyer, were detained in custody today and later released. Another blogger has also been called by telephone to appear at a police station – which he refused to do unless he received official summons....
India: Veiled Racism
My Useless Banter on veiled racism. “It makes me so angry when people say racist things to you pretending as if they're not racist at all, and that infact because they're talking to you, it just proves that they're not racist. This guy at my workplace went to India for...
Pakistan: Lawyers Rally
Metroblogging Islamabad on a rally to protest President Musharraf's removal of Pakistan's Chief Justice. “The rally in Islamabad on Tuesday was the biggest street protest yet in the capital in protest of Musharraf's removal of Ifitkhar Mohammed Chaudhry, the court's chief justice, on March 9. The move sparked the biggest...
Whiskey We've Got, But Where's the Meat?
Carnicería by Luis Carlos Diaz Venezuela is one of the principal oil-exporting countries of the world. However, petroleum is not edible and, lamentably, Venezuela's national food industry is not able to feed its population. So Venezuela is, since its economy stopped having an agricultural focus at the beginning of the...
Nepal: Protest Rally
Photographs from a rally protesting the Gaur massacre at United We Blog! “The focus of the event might have been about the violence in Gaur, but the mood was definitely not. In contrast to the funeral march in Kathmandu, the Maoists at this function seemed a lot less angry, and...
Bhutan: Movies in Thimpu City
Visit Bhutan on the only theatre in Thimpu cities that screens movies. “Well, I can still remember the last time i saw a Bhutan movie in the only picture hall or Movie Theater in the Thimphu. The Lugar Theatre which lies in the heart of the Thimphu Town put up...