Stories from 20 February 2008
African Intellectuals Critique Sarkozy's Dakar Address in New Book
Anandoo.net announces L'Afrique répond à Sarkozy [Fr], a collective critique of Nicolas Sarkozy's infamous Dakar speech by prominent African intellectuals, published in Paris this week.
Kyrgyzstan: Leading University at the Center of Parliamentary Debates
During the last week, one of the most discussed topics among Kyrgyz bloggers was the situation around the American University in Central Asia. As its website says, AUCA has an established reputation for “dedication to democratic values, individual freedoms and the spirit of innovation”, and, indeed, it has played an...
South Korea: Haagen-Dazs Workers Protest
Chamnews reports about Korean Haagen-Dazs’ workers protest against the company's outsourcing and restructuring policy.
South Korea: Dark Tourism
Korea Beat translated a local report on the phenomenon of “dark tourism” to the scene of the Namdaemun/Sungnyemun fire.
China: More Fake Photos
Netizen from China dig out more fake photos circulating in the mainstream media, some of those had won photo awards. ESWN translated a local report on the fake Qinghai-Tibet railroad photo, and there is another award-winning photo in doubt called “The Pitiless Fire” (also via ESWN).
China: Political Mistake
Zengying blogs about his experience of making a serious “political mistake” in a local T.V station at the end of the 1990s. It was about a T.V drama which had been shown in the central television station. Eventually he found out that the mistake was the pronunciation of the name...
Turkmenistan: UN Awards Turkmen President
Maciula criticizes the United Nations Organization for awarding President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov the order “For Outstanding Achievements in Information Science”.
China: Another World's Tallest Skyscraper Plan
Kenneth Tan from Shanghaiist reports on skyscraper plan in Shanghai, it will be the world's tallest in 2009.
China: Taiwan and Kosovo
Taiwan's Foreign Minister announced its recognition of Kosovo as an independent country, China Foreign Affair spoke person responded that Taiwan is not in position to give “recognition” to Kosovo. Bonnae from 1510.com pointed out that Kosovo's independence has put China into an embarrassing situation and Taiwan's attitude is also hitting...
Afghanistan: Balkh Still Uneasy Over Language
Mohammad reports that university teachers, students, cultural activists, writers, poets, journalists and youths dramatic held a protest rally against the information minister in Balkh, a city in Afghanistan. The protesters said they had staged the demonstration against the official persecution of three journalists for using Persian words in their reports.
Afghanistan: The two Kandahar bombings
Peter Marton analyzes the two recent bloody bombings in Kandahar, an uneasy province of Afghanistan, both of them with a lot of random killing.
Spanish reactions to Kosovo's independence
Two days after Kosovo's declaration of independence in spite of Serbia's opposition, the debate about the merits of recognising it as a state is still raging. Within the European Union, countries such as France, UK, Germany or Italy have recognized it, while others such as Slovakia and Spain have strongly opposed it as they consider that the declaration does not respect international law.
Malaysia: Rethinking the Opposition
Fat4 thinks Malaysian opposition parties must rethink their strategy in order to give the ruling coalition a good fight.
Singapore: Japanese Food Bazaar
Sparklette reviews a new Japanese Food Court in Singapore.
Myanmar: Suicide Attacks
Dawn reflects on a recent suicide bombing attack in Myanmar.
Caribbean: Castro – End of an Era?
The buzz in the regional blogosphere for the last 24 hours has undoubtedly been the retirement of Cuban leader Fidel Castro after nearly 50 years at the helm of the socialist republic. The announcement hardly came as a surprise, what with the last couple of years of anti-Castro bloggers closely following reports of the leader's deteriorating health and speculating as to whether or not he was even alive.
Myanmar: Suicide Attack
Dawn reflects on a recent case of suicide bombing in Myanmar.
Egypt: Young People
The Arabist links to a feature by the New York Times on young people in Egypt.
Egypt: No Change in Cuba
Egyptian blogger Zeinobia comments on the latest news regarding Cuba's strongman Fidel Castro's resignation.
Bahrain: New Restriction on Media
Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif lashes out at a new “restriction’ on media in the Arab world.
