Stories from 1 February 2008
Peru: The Fascination with Cuy
Alejandro at Peru Food writes about all of the curiosity and fascination with cuy. This rodent, also known as a guinea pig, is a popular dish in the Andes and can be prepared a number of ways.
Armenia: Forgotten Circus
Leaving behind the “political circus” that is election time in Armenia, The Armenian Patchwork visits the real one which is attempting to make a comeback. The photo blog posts photographs and an account.
Argentina: Former Torture Center to Become Cultural Center
The Armed Forces Mechanics School or ESMA for its initials in Spanish was a clandestine detention and torture center in Argentina during the dictatorship. It is now being turned into a cultural center and a “Museum of Memories,” writes Maria Sol Tischik in Grito Argentino [es].
Armenia: On the (Unofficial) Campaign Trail
Thursday marked the annual celebration of St. Vardanants day in Armenia, but this being pre-election period it also represented yet another opportunity for the prime minister to enjoy a media moment or two in support of his presidential bid. My Armenia Election Monitor 2008 has photographs and an account of...
Bolivia: Watching Movies in El Alto
Dora Romero of Las Ideas Son Primeo [es] writes about movie screens in the city of El Alto, Bolivia and that all types of people enter to watch the latest movies: shoeshiners, women in traditional garb, children, and couples in love.
Ecuador: The Price of Corrpution
According to a report from Transparency International, Ecuadorians spend 533 million dollars in bribing public officials. La Voz de Guamote [es] says that this especially affects the poor.
East Timor: On the Human Rights Watch report
A comment left at the Timor Lorosa e Nacão blog contests the reliability of today's Human Rights Watch report on violence in the Portuguese speaking countries Angola, Brazil e East Timor: “Of course, as an NGO based in Washington and financed by the State Department North American (and by a...
Mozambique: An update on the mass kidnapping case
Ivone Soares [pt] has an update on the strange mass kidnapping in Mozambique that she reported earlier this week, which went unnoticed by the press, even after a press conference about it: “The most alarming thing is that up to now nobody has any information on the whereabouts of the...
India: Copyright and the Law
Law and Other Things on Supreme Court of India ruling that there can be no copyright in the raw text of court judgments/decisions.
Pakistan: Women and the workplace
Metroblogging Islamabad on working women in Pakistan being harassed at the workplace.
Pakistan: Musharraf and Zia
Crow's Nest on Musharraf's recent outburst in the U.K, and how he might end up meeting a fate similar to another military dictator in Pakistan.
Bangladesh: Grameenphone
Bangladesh Corporate Blog on Grameenphone – the largest mobile phone company in the country.
Bangladesh: Expat blogging
joybangla lists out some interesting blogs by expats in Bangladesh.
Middle East: Internet Outage Enrages Bloggers
What is a blogger without access to the Internet? This was the dilemma facing tens of thousands of bloggers in parts of the Middle East and Asia, after an optical cable in the Mediterranean was damaged, crippling millions of Internet users. No surprise, some of the region's bloggers were fuming especially when they realised that it could take up to two weeks to fix the damage.
Morocco: Couscous of the Dead
Margot the Marrakesh Mystic has a two-part piece on Couscous of the Dead.
Morocco: Marrakech Marathon
Connie in Morocco shares stories from the Marrakech Marathon and water cuts at home.
Morocco: Kefta Tajine
SunnyRaindrops shares a recipe for kefta tajine, a Moroccan specialty.
Morocco: Author Honoured
The View from Fez reports that famed author Tahar Ben Jelloun was honoured by French president Nicolas Sarkozy.
Guyana: Warning poem
Signifyin’ Guyana posts “the angels warn”, a poem by Guyanese writer Balwant Bhagwandin, and notes, “The recent history-making violence in Lusignan makes the warning prophetic and urgent.”
Brazil: Last minute ban on Holocaust-themed carnival float
A few days before the official Carnival kicks off, Unidos do Viradouro samba school has had a float banned from the parade, after Jewish groups took a stand against it for featuring a pile of dead victims of the Nazi Holocaust. The controversy has divided the Brazilian blogosphere.
Jamaica: Staring at strangers
Does it seem that Jamaicans like to stare at strangers? Moving Back to Jamaica explains why that might be.
