Stories from 13 March 2008
Republic of Congo: Campaign for health rights
Campaigning for health rights in the Republic of Congo: “Indigenous people in all areas of Congo Brazzaville live in precarious conditions and are subjected to discrimination and marginalisation, which prevents them from benefiting from all the rights recognised by international human rights instruments, particularly the right to health care and...
Zimbabwe: Landlord's rules
These are landlord's rules in Zimbabwe: “Rule number 6 reads, “Never do laundry in the tub. Use the outside sink. Hang clothes with pegs, never without. Use the line near the mango tree.” The rules also stipulate that the tenant uses tissue paper only and not newspapers. In addition to...
Zambia: A single visa for SADCC?
Cho discusses comments from Zambia's Tourism Deputy Minister about a single visa for the SADC region: “The Univisa proposal should make the SADC region more attractive to tourists , relative to other regions, as it expands the choice available to them. The extent of these benefits will depend on the...
South Africa: Suggestions for Muti
Mike blogs about Muti: “On Muti one can also vote items down if one disapproves of the content. This is my only concern with Muti. It means that people can club together to vote content down the organic hierarchy resulting in what is being perceived as an elitist ‘clique’ owning...
Sudan: The definition of a blogger and an open letter to the president
We begin this latest round-up of Sudanese blogosphere with, among other topics, a proposed definition of what a political blogger is and news of blogger Sudanese Returnee finally returning to the blogosphere after his three months long absence.
India: Losing Goa and the Scarlett Keeling homicide case
My heart cries out that Goa the land of Sex, Drugs, Music, the once land of the hippies and lost Gods, had to be brought under the crime radar as a threat. Although I am partial in judging Goa, the land I spent my childhood and almost every other summer,...
Turkmenistan: Breakthrough in Turkmen-Azerbaijani talks
Maciula reports on the Azerbaijani-Turkmen deal signed in Baku that ends a very long dispute between the two countries and is a important step forward towards building the Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline.
Kyrgyzstan: LGBT and Allies Reactions to Russian Orthodox Church homophobic statements
GenderStan posts an announcement of and a link to videocast responding to the homophobic and insulting statements presented by Russian Orthodox Church against LGBT. The videocast has been watched 409 times within the first 15 hours of being up.
Kazakhstan: Mittal Forced to Separate Kazakh Oil Assets
Zhanna Zhukova tells about yet more new problems the Mittal’s business is starting to face in Kazakhstan, now in the oil-and-gas sector.
Abu Dhabi: $14.3m for a Number Plate
“Today, a man named Said Abdul Ghafour Khouri has agreed to pay AED 52.2 Million (US $14.3 Million) for Abu Dhabi license plate labeled “1” at an auction at the 7-star Emirates Palace Hotel here, making it the world's most expensive license plate,” reports Fahad Inc from the UAE.
Uzbekistan: Opposition Welcomes Rapprochement with West. Or Not?
Nathan reviews a number of news reports on reaction of the Uzbekistan's opposition and human rights activists to closer ties between the Uzbek government and the West, and says that it is hard to find any one report that provides a representative sample of the opinions, although the fractured community...
Tunisia: 50 Richest Arabs
From Tunisia, Subzero Blue (Ar) shares with us the list of the 50 richest Arabs – led by Al Waleed bin Talal from Saudi Arabia.
Lebanon: The Story of Gaza
“Domination, enslavement, besiegement, starvation, terror, slaughter. This is daily life for the Palestinians of Gaza. The malicious, detestable, vicious, repulsive, contemptible world looks on. The cowardly, unscrupulous, gutless, deceitful, devious, disingenuous, snide Arab governments look away,” writes Ibn Bint Jbeil, from Lebanon.
Jordan: Reaching East
Jordanian Reflect Upon shares with us a lesson in this post. Did you know that if you continued going West, you would reach East?
Syria: No More Blogging
From Syria, Golaniya has given up on blogging.
Jordan: Christian Deportations
Jordan continues with its Christian deportations, reports Mental Mayhem.
Libya: Lots of Kittens
“We've been having kittens. Anbah had three kittens and then disappeared. We're not sure what happened to her and we hope she comes back,” writes Khadija Teri, from Libya.
Postal Services in Kuwait
Tata Botata writes about postal services in Kuwait.
Armenia: Official Response
Unzipped reports that there has been an official response to video circulating which shows security services shooting directly in front of them rather than into the air as the authorities claim. The blog notes that although prosecutors are seeking independent verification, they are already casting doubts on the authenticity of...
China and Africa: Fusing Through Design
Shanghaiist has a feature story on the fusion of China and Africa culture through fashion design.
Taiwan: Five Things That Never Happened
Michael followed the China history blog post and listed out five things that never happened in Taiwan.
