Stories from 12 April 2007
India: Your Menstrual Cycle
In what comes across as a PR disaster, the government in India appears to be asking women in the civil services about their menstrual cycle and pap smears in their appraisal forms. (News reports suggest that the government has dropped the idea today.) Gilli.in collates some links discussing the issue.
Pakistan: The Umpires
Metroblogging Lahore reminds us that while the cricket team may not have fared well at the World Cup 2007, the Pakistani umpires are doing a great job. “Not very long ago, Pakistani umpires were looked down upon – Remember Javed Iqbal of Ashes fame? But these two have done exceptionally...
Nepal: Reminiscence Of Childhood Dreams
Kathmandu Speaks has an interesting post on a lot of things -including childhood, literature and citizen journalism. “Citizen Journalism- I didn’t know anything about this wonderful phenomenon until I was called for an interview. I was sure towards the end of the interview, that I had really impressed those three...
Jamaica: West Indies are Minnows
Jamaican b C wishes the West Indies well, but calls a spade a spade: “The truth is, the West Indies team is a minnow. You can't win matches when your opening pair of batsman can't give you more than 24 runs. You can't win when only one strike bowler actually...
US Virgin Islands: Silly Signs
Writing from the U.S. Virgin Islands, News of St. John chuckles at a few signs of the times…
Cuba: Church Caving to Government Pressure?
Uncommon Sense, citing reports by both Reuters and The Miami Herald, wonders if the Catholic Church has caved to pressure from the Cuban regime in halting the publication of Vitral, a church-sponsored magazine that, according to one anonymous activist, “worried both conservatives in the church and hard-liners in government”.
Kyrgyzstan: Same protests as every year
Kyrgyzstan's post-revolution turmoil is not cooling down even two years after the ouster of ex-President Akayev. The newest episode of opposition protests echoes previous rallies on Bishkek's main square, and will likely yield similar amounts of success, namely very little.
Egypt: Human Rights Abuses
Egyptian blogger Ibn Al Dunya links to an article by Amnesty International which details systematic abuses of human rights in the name of security in Egypt.
Egypt: Facebook Closed Circuit
Egyptian blogger Mostafa Hussein explains to us why he hates Facebook here. “Simply, facebook is just a reincarnation of Orkut, Hi5 and the same old … concept of closed social networks that demonstrate nothing but it is a small world after all(tm) phenomenon. People are all excited about it, because...
Bahrain: Apologies to MP
Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif retracted a post in which he posted a copy of a cheque for about $10 million in the name of an MP, claiming that it is a fake. “Therefore, and with further assurances of the officials I spoke to, this is a wholly fabricated situation....
Egypt: Syrian Cyber-Activist Arrested
Writing in The Arabist, blogger Tim Seah links to a statement issued by Reporters Without Borders which calls for the immediate release of arrested human rights activist Ibrahim Zoro, 47, who regularly posts material on foreign-based opposition websites. Journalist Muhened Abdulrahman and writer Habib Saleh are also in prison in...
Saudi Arabia: Discussion Group Laws
Saudi blogger Rasheed Abou-Alsamh links to an article in which he writes about how discussion groups in private homes in Saudi Arabia are now required to register with authorities or face legal action. ‘She says she received a troubling call from a government official a few weeks ago asking her...
Bahrain: Blogger Sued
Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif has just been summoned to show up at the High Criminal Court on April 17 for a libel suit being brought against him by a minister for comments he published on his popular blog. “I am convinced that I did no wrong. I have portrayed...
Sudan: Khartoum Explosion, Death By Stoning, Tortured Journalist & Chinese “Musical” Diplomacy
Sudan has been witnessing interesting developments in the past few weeks. The most recent one is the Khartoum ammo truck explosion, which Mimz blogged about: A little over 24 hours ago a series of extremely boisterous explosions took place in one of the military sites availed for storing ammo, in...
Africa: confusing trolling and debating
A Nigeria blogger, eshuneutics, joins the debate about blogger's code of conduct: “The civil values that we prize today were not built upon polite speech. The pamphleteers of the seventeenth century—the bloggers of their day—were renowned for transgressions and fierce intellectual argument. What I most worry about in this move...
Saudi Arabia: Meet the Abazons
We all know who the Amazons are – but to learn more about the Abazons – Saudi Stepford Wife‘s latest post is a must read. “Abazon- An abaya-clad Amazon who, as their literary counterparts in the past, threaten the masculinity of most Saudi men. As such, the typical goal of...
Saudi Arabia: Maid Gone
Saudi-based blogger Nzingha‘s maid is gone – and she can't hide her happiness. “And I'm so happy she is finally gone. I have learned a few things with this experience, one is that I will never again hesitate in firing a person if it isn't working out,” she writes.
Jamaica: Frances-Anne Solomon Speaks
Jamaican Geoffrey Philp features writer, producer and filmmaker Frances-Anne Solomon in her own words: “Creation is a form of Terror, particularly when you come from a colonial context and background in which Empire (read: a sense of inferiority) was imposed through education, language, culture, as much if not more than...
Ethiopia: doing dirty work for America
Ethio-Zagol Post writes about suspected “terrorists” detained in Ethiopia: It was Replica Iran. Eight “terrorists” detained in secret prisons in Ethiopia (some referred to them as TPLF’s Guantanmo) were paraded on ETV yesterday. The “terrorists” in broken English told the world that their captures were humane; and provided them with...
Trinidad & Tobago: PM's Residence before Carnival Centre
Trinidad Carnival Diary is puzzled about the T&T government's construction priorities: “While the Prime Minister (or new Prime Minister given that General Elections is carded for later this year) will be sitting pretty in a brand, spanking, new “crib” we masqueraders will have to eat dust on the streets of...
China: Nailhouse questions remain
With all the blogging and reporting that's been done on the now-infamous nailhouse, Davesgonechina takes a long look back—two, actually—and still finds many unanswered questions.
