Stories from 25 May 2007
Lebanon: Who is Responsible?
Lebanese blogger Jounoune links to a news article which points fingers to who is responsible for the fighting in North Lebanon.
Belize: Supreme Court Rules Against Police
The Belize Supreme Court has ruled that the police cannot prevent citizens from protesting against the controversial Universal Health Services loan guarantee during today's House of Representatives meeting. Belizean quotes United Democratic Party leader Dean Barrow: “The will of the people obviously cannot be thwarted and the right to dissent...
Iraq: US Destruction Machine
Iraqi blogger Majed Jarrar links to two videos which show the US troops “destroying Iraq.”
Egypt: Live Snakes to Saudi
Egyptian blogger Mostafa Hussein links to an AP story which says that police detained a man at Cairo's airport – bound for Saudi Arabia – who was trying to smuggle 700 live snakes on a plane!
Bahrain: Second Podcast
Bahraini blogger emoodz posted his second podcast in Arabic and English, lamenting the ‘tasteless’ music youth listen to, the political situation in Bahrain and his opinion of some of the local bloggers.
Suriname, Barbados: CARICOM Failing Caribbean People
As Suriname announces plans for the construction of a nuclear power facility, Barbados Underground writes, “This affair epitomizes the ineffective organ we call Caricom.”
Bahamas: Race Matters
“Race matters. And we need to talk about it in order to make it matter less.” Nicolette Bethel starts the discussion on race relations in the Bahamas.
Aruba: Tabloid Journalism
After a photo of a Minister of Parliament sunbathing nude is dubbed “Picture of the Year” by an Aruban daily, Arubagirl asks, “What good did it do? How does embarrassing this guy help the public at large? If his only crime is that he had no clothes on, I think...
Arabeyes: Unlicensed Bahrainis; Silent Algerians; Kidneyless Egyptians and More
What is banned and allowed in Bahrain? How did the government and politicians react to the low turn out at the Algerian elections last week? Why did an Egyptian man sell his kidney? And finally - why do you need Wasta in Jordan? These are the main questions the following translation of Arabic blogs shed light on this week.
Iran:Neo-Cons To Plot Iran Strategy Amid Caribbean Luxury
Thanks to Sibil Tala we get information about a “Neo-Con” led conference about Iran.According this information the workshop, entitled “Confronting The Iranian Threat: The Way Forward,” is to include “30 or so leading experts who will analyze the implications of Iran’s activities, the diplomatic challenges, military and intelligence capabilities, the...
Lebanon: Where's Our Patriotism?
After relegating herself to the status of spectator of the recent violence in Lebanon, Marie-Josee takes up her pen, this time to write about how the country's trivialization of the deaths of Lebanese soldiers shows a “fundamental lack of patriotism” (Fr) on the part of Lebanon's government and its people.
A Return to Morocco, in Pictures
France/Maroc à VTT posts hundreds of vivid photographs of his journey back to Morocco, the country of his birth.
How the South is financing the North's internet connection
Reseau International de correspondants writes about pricing inequalities in the international telecom system (Fr) that place a disproportionate burden of payment on developing countries to the extent that “the South is financing the North” and it is in effect “three times more expensive to connect to the internet” in developing...
Guinean proverb
Roots and Culture posts a Guinean proverb: “When ants work together they carry lift elephants.” (Fr)
South Korea: Creative Leadership
Former Seoul Mayor Lee Myung-bak of the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) formally announced his presidential candidacy yesterday. Matt from Gust of Popular Feeling wrote some background about Lee's creative leadership: “creative leadership” mostly means “throw money at construction companies.”
Japan: Cat shooting game
Japan Probe introduces a new game, cat shooting game, from the Neko Games team. You can click to play here.
Vietnam: Fibre Optic Cable Looting
SaigonNezumi writes about Vietnamese authorities nabbing under sea fiber-optic cable robbers. The bloggers asks “Who are the ones telling these smugglers the exact locations of the fiber-optic lines?”
Japan: Spring swallows
Overoften blogs about Japanese spring time with very nice photos of the swallows under his roof.
Thailand: Blogspot Blocked
Bangkok Pundit writes about Thai internet service providers blocking blogs hosted on the popular blogspot.com domain. Seems the domain was blocked as there were some blogs hosted on the domain that were deemed offensive by the Thai ministry of communication and information technology.
Hong Kong: Category II Indecent Material
ESWN translated Mingpao (local newspapers) feature report on the Chinese University erotic section. The report was recently graded as category II indecent material.
China: China Children's Times
Joel Martinsen from DANWEI translated a blog post by Tu Guowen about a Children newspaper, China Children's Times, published during China's Republican era.
