Stories from 11 June 2007
Ukraine: Kyiv Street Cleaners Get a Raise
Kyiv street cleaners - all 6,000 of them - will be getting $400 a month from now on. This raise, city administration officials hope, will help hire 3,500 more people needed to keep the Ukrainian capital tidy. Judging by a discussion that erupted after the Ukrainian news website Korrespondent.net ran an item on this salary increase initiative, Kyiv's laborer corps might soon become overstaffed - and many of the new recruits are likely to be overqualified for the humble yet arduous work of a street cleaner.
South Asia: On Paris Hilton
Sepia Mutiny on the sudden relevance of Paris Hilton. “Meanwhile, you have so-called “enemy combatants,” some of them South Asian, who in many cases don’t get a lawyer or even get to hear the evidence against them. They are simply thrown into a cage. Not only do they not receive...
Pakistan: Understanding Pakistan
iFaqeer introduces a project – ‘Understanding Pakistan’. “Pakistanis often complain that the history of their country–or the history of the region as it relates to them and their country–is often told from either British or Western eyes, or from a point of view that is sympathetic to India, and dwells...
Bolivia: Santa Cruz Newspaper Joins the Blogosphere
The Santa Cruz newspaper El Deber recently provided coverage to the Bolivian blogosphere and has even joined in the act with the launch of three new blogs of its own. The three blogs may be a catalyst for other newspapers to begin blogging and interacting with its readers.
Bangladesh: Carnival of Islam
Sadiq Alam on the Carnival of Islam in the East. “Inspired by Hakim Abdullah's ‘Carnival of Islam in the West’ yesterday it came to me that there is a necessity also to have a focus and brain-storming about the status of Islam in East. In recent time islam has grown...
Bangladesh: Radio Stations
black and gray on radio in Bangladesh. “Slowly but surely a silent revolution is taking a shape in Bangladesh. Several private radio stations in Dhaka have gone on-air a few years ago, now along with BBC and VOA on FM, stations like Radio Foorti and Radio Today are changing the...
Arabeyes: Greedy Doctors, Cheating Spouses and Parliamentary Scuffles
Today's translation of Arabic blogs makes five stops: one each in Libya, Tunisia and Kuwait and two stops in Egypt to give us a gist of what some of the bloggers are writing about. Issues being discussed include how doctors put money before their patients' interests; cheating spouses; why Arabs are not progressing and the latest on why the Kuwaiti Parliament is in a shambles.
Kenya: the double edged nature of personal media
Following the explosion in Nairobi today, Thinkers Room discusses the double edged of personal media: Today has just illustrated the double edged nature of pervasive communication like blogs, email and text messaging. There is no doubt that these platforms are powerful tools for communicating information. There is also no doubt...
Jamaica: Caribbean Americans and the American dream
Geoffrey Philp confesses that he had no intention of becoming a Caribbean-American, because he wanted to be known only as a Jamaican writer – but he now realises that Caribbean-Americans “have had a significant role in shaping the conscience of America”.
Iran:Ortega in Iran
You can see several photos of Daniel Ortega‘s trip to Tehran in Kamangir’s blog.The President of Nicaragua talked with Iranian leaders and gave a speech in the University of Tehran mentioning “the Sandanista’s revolution took over the power in 1979, the exact year that the Islamic revolution succeeded in Iran....
Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados: West Indies Decline
West Indies Cricket Blog quotes Sir Gary Sobers and former England captain Mike Arthurton on the decline of West Indies cricket.
Martinique: Legislative Election Underwhelms
le blog de [moi] writes about the legislative elections in Martinique [Fr], noting that 65% percent of voters stayed home–nearly the same proportion as voted in the French presidential election. Understandable, [moi] writes, given the mediocrity of the candidates.
St Vincent & The Grenadines: Beauty or Brains?
Abeni cannot help but recall West Indian poet Paul Keens-Douglas’ parody on beauty shows while watching a local beauty pageant: “We learnt from one contestant that global warming is a good thing for any country in the world. Another seemed to not understand the meaning of the word extracurricular.”
Jamaica: Police Corruption
Francis Wade shares his thoughts about police corruption in Jamaica: “At a pay rate that is abysmal, how much can be expected? They have dangerous jobs, in one of the most dangerous cities in the world, and they can barely afford to scratch out a basic existence. Their response is...
Iran:No to violence, yes to equal rights
In Weforchange we read[Fa] that 700 people who demand equal rights for women,in a letter, condemned the violence against women, students and workers. They say tomorrow is the anniversary of Iranian Women Campaign that started two years ago to protest against the Constitution, considering it the root and origin of...
Haiti: Impressions of Haiti
“I spent a good number of hours in the country trying to come to terms that this magical western portion of Hispaniola was not living up to all the negative hype too often attached to the greater Haiti.” Adrienne Wilson posts the last in her series of articles about her...
Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago: Caribbean Film
“Much of local and Caribbean cinema remains inaccessible to the majority of Caribbean people. Somehow they figure that we would rather see failed American sitcoms than our own people on screen.” A Caribbean film has left quite the impression on Eemanee.
Bahamas: Race, not Racism
“It turns out that the things that we have been taught to regard as fundamental to our own identity here in the Bahamas…are based on a lie. But it's a lie that is alive and well in the Bahamas and in the world.” Nicolette Bethel continues to explore the concept...
Anguilla: Hazardous Waste
Corruption-free Anguilla is concerned about the environmental hazards being caused by the island's public garbage dump.
Egypt: Blog Turns Three
Egyptian blogger Freedom for Egyptians is celebrating her blog's third anniversary. “My baby is turning three years this month. I cannot believe how time has passed so quickly. On June 25, 2005, my baby was born in a good shape. I am an only daughter so is my baby. Elder...
Egypt: Land Sale Scam
Egyptian blogger Zeinobia writes: “I don't know exactly where we are heading Egypt ,surely we are not heading towards the safe side , no way we are going already in the wrong turn and we seem to be going deep and deep to the bottom faster than ever. Not that...
