23 December 2007

Stories from 23 December 2007

Barbados: Election Date

“For most Barbadians who have not become completely apathetic, this general election will be one of the most interesting since Independence in 1966″: Barbados Underground reports that the island's Prime...

23 December 2007

Caribbean: Christmas Traditions

All over the world, people get together with friends and family to celebrate Christmas. They exchange gifts, and invite one another to their homes for parties, lunches or dinners, signifying the trademark Christmas message of peace and goodwill. Karel McIntosh speaks to a few regional bloggers to get a glimpse into what Christmas traditions are like in the Caribbean...

23 December 2007

Bahrain: The debt owed to the Indians of the Gulf

This is the second post from Bahrain this week; the first covered various celebrations, and demonstrations. In this post we'll be examining the official population statistics, hearing about a frustrating experience in Saudi Arabia, seeing what role graffiti can play in political mobilisation, and acknowledging the debt owed to South Asians in the Gulf.

23 December 2007

Zimbabwe: Currency fiasco

Kubatana blog on the Zimbabwe's currency fiasco: “So, I’m not sure what it says about the Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono’s attachment issues, that he’s not willing to let go...

23 December 2007

D.R. of Congo: The Batwa people

AfricaBeat on the Batwa from the Democratic Republic of Congo: “The Batwa people were traditionally hunter-gatherers. In Eastern Congo, they lived off what the forest provided, until prolonged warfare and...

23 December 2007

Thailand: PPP Leading

Bangkok Pundit analyzes the latest results of exit poll data and the actual election results. The PPP or People's Power Party, considered by many as the incarnation of the banned...

23 December 2007

Brazil: The future is open source

Sérgio Amadeu [pt] publishes a picture of a GNU/Linux computing class, with a difference: there students are middle age learners. “I have learned a lot with this research, which has...

23 December 2007

Angola: Welcome to Cuban doctors

Orlando Castro [pt] welcomes the Cuban doctors that will work in Huambo, an Angolan province with a population of over 2 million people and a doctor for every 40,183 patients....

23 December 2007

Brazil: 2007 in posts

Idelber [pt] goes on holidays and leaves his readers with a collection of links to 2007 posts that are well worth a second helping. “We will be back on January...

23 December 2007

Morocco: Seeing stars in Marrakesh

It's been a star-struck week in the French-speaking Moroccan bloggosphere, famous international figures being a primary focus of discussion. Several bloggers wrote about the happenings at the seventh edition of the International Marrakesh Film Festival, most notably on the reception there of American director Martin Scorcese and some famous Egyptian film stars.

23 December 2007

Saudi Blogger Fouad Al Farhan Arrested in Jeddah

Saudi Arabia added yet another accolade to its freedom of speech record by arresting its first blogger. Fuad Al Farhan, considered by many as being the dean of Saudi bloggers for being among the first to blog in his country using his real name, has been arrested in Jeddah. No further news is available for the reasons for his detention. This is how some of his fellow bloggers reacted to his arrest.

23 December 2007

Japan: Economics of the “Illegal” Download

Following on recent moves by the government to regulate the Internet, plans for regulation in other areas of online communication have been moving ahead apace in Japan. Among these is the plan to revise article 30 of Japan's Copyright Law to make it illegal for individuals to download copyrighted material for personal use, something which up until now had been considered legal. Blogger and economist Ikeda Nobuo delves into the economics of the "illegal download", strongly criticizing the proposed revision.

23 December 2007