Stories from 9 January 2008
Israel: President Bush Visits Israel
American President George W. Bush is arriving in Israel today and for once, English speaking Israelis have little to say. Views fall primarily into two camps: Complaints about the short-term discomfort that high security will cause Jerusalemites in their daily routines, and concern about new rockets launched from Lebanon and ongoing attacks from Gaza hailing Bush's visit.
Lusosphere: Happy birthday Pimenta Negra
Blog Pimenta Negra [pt] celebrates its 4th anniversary. “It came up due to several circumstances related to the need to find an independent communication channel and an alternative to spread ideas that are far from been echoed in the media”.
Portugal: We have been betrayed
Susana Charrua [pt] is alarmed that Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates has decided to seek ratification of the EU's new reform treaty by parliament rather than in a referendum as had been promised, “We are being governed by a dictator of the worst kind, I believe we should begin to...
Kenya: A tool for reporting acts of violence
White African writes about a new tool for reporting acts of violence in Kenya: “Ushahidi.com is a tool for people who witness acts of violence in Kenya in these post-election times. You can report the incident that you have seen, and it will appear on a map-based view for others...
Kenya: Action Alert Blog
Black Looks writes about Kenya Action Alert blog: “Pambazuka News has created an Action Alert blog for up to date news and alerts on Kenya.”
Environment: Greening Communities in South Africa
Carbon Copy posts a 90 second award winning film shot in Cape Town's Khayelitsha township; The film “touches on daily township life in South Africa and how solar energy could be utilised to uplift the poor in a sustainable way.”
Environment: ‘Green Deserts’ in China
Gaoming Jiang of China Dialogue writes of ‘green deserts’ characterized by poplar trees and nothing else. “The Chinese government should consider the needs of local species and biodiversity. We need to consider planting slow-growth but high-quality wood alongside faster-growing species. We must reduce the dominance of the poplar, allowing natural...
Barbados: The Abortion Issue
Barbados Free Press suggests that a political candidate's position on abortion may play a role in whether he is elected to Parliament or not.
Bahamas: Tourism & Crime
“The government, and Bahamians at large, must recognise that tourism is a multi-dimensional phenomenon that calls for much more than a handful of sand, a tan and a dip in the sea”: At WeblogBahamas.com, Adrian Gibson blogs about tourism – and crime.
Jamaica: Disappointing Tunes of '07
Jamaican Marlon James continues his musical theme by blogging about “the most disappointing records of 2007″.
Georgia: Final Results
Writing for his blog, This is Tbilisi Calling, the BBC's Matthew Collin says that the official results for Saturday's presidential election have finally been declared. As had been reported in the international media anyway, Mikhail Saakashvili won a second term in office, but Collin says that it is doubtful that...
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: On Strike
Abeni blogs about the teachers’ strike in St. Vincent.
Trinidad & Tobago: Globalisation
Ramblings and Reason is “still trying to figure out the whole globalisaiton thing – what it means and whether it's an overall good or bad thing”.
China: Land Ownership
There is an appeal for returning land ownership back to rural peasants (zh)in the civic rights volunteers’ blog.
China: City Management Team
Recently a passerby was beaten to death by a city management team in Hubei because he had taken photos of their violent acts. Boyer2000 pointed out that such kind of news happened so frequently that people started to get used to it (zh).
Brazil: Daily thought-provoking pictures
For a thought-provoking and intriguing daily dose of pictures, visit photographer Carlos Café's new blog. The tip is from the New Alriada Express [pt].
Turkmenistan: New Year in the Shadow of the “Blue Fuel”
Maciula reports on the new “gas” news from Turkmenistan — on 27 December, President Berdymukhammedov informed that in 2008 Turkmenistan will conduct an audit of all hydrocarbon deposits.
Kazakhstan: New Translation of a Masterpiece
Zhanna Zhukova tells about a new Russian translation of the epic novel “Abai’s Path” from the original Kazakh. Despite criticism that the work was done on the basis of interlinear translation, the new version is deemed a success by the author’s son.
Kazkahstan: UFO down reported
Zhanna Zhukova writes about a weird news item about alleged crash of an UFO in the northern Kazakhstan that has been reported to the competent bodies by a local head of police.
Afghanistan: Drug Use
Nasim Fekratْ focuses this time on the issue of drug abuse in Aghanistan and says that the number of opium addicts in Kabul alone was more than 30,000 in estimation in 2004 but three years after, this number doubled.
Chile: The Killing of a Mapuche Activist
The Latin Americanist discusses the anger expressed by Mapuche indigenous groups over the death of a local activist by Chilean police.
