Stories from 25 May 2008
Cape Verde: Africa Day
To celebrate the Africa Day today, Baluka Brazao [pt] publishes and provides info on a picture by Robert Colescott, Marching to a Different Drummer in which according to the Cape Verdean “Colescott addresses the white perception of the black and the black perception of the white, and shows how racism...
Peru: Lima Plays Host to Regional Summit
Lima, Peru recently played host to the 5th Latin America - European Union summit, which aims to address some of the pressing matters of the region. Peruvian bloggers provide their thoughts on how valuable these summits are and whether the city disorder is worth the hassle. Other bloggers were left disappointed after offering to volunteer at the summit.
Iran: Persian Gulf,Protest and Repression
Jamshidi writes [Fa]that several hundreds Iranians on Friday gathered in front of the United Arab Emirates embassy in Tehran again and protested against renaming of the Persain Gulf by several Arab states. The blogger has published several photos of this demonstration and got surprised when security forces repressed a peaceful...
Iran:Sun Palace in Photo
Mehdi Boolrian,Iranian photo blogger, has published a photo from Khorshid (means Sun) Palace , in Iran.
Africa: The challenge of the cults in East Africa
Pea discusses “The Challenge of the Cults in East Africa,” a video series on YouTube: “I was on YouTube just now and came across a series of videos titled “The Challenge of the Cults in East Africa.” The videos are posted by ACFAR, which I believe stands for African Centre...
South Africa: What is the meaning of “makwerekwere”?
Khanya traces the origin of the word “makwerekwere,” a slang for foreigners in South Africa: ” A couple of bloggers with an interest in language have asked about the the origin and meaning of the word “makwerekwere”. It is a slang word for foreigners, and especially illegal immigrants, which I...
South Africa: Mapping xenophobia
United for Africa maps xenophobia incidents in South Africa: “The Ushahidi engine is being used to map xenophobic attacks in South Africa at the “United For Africa” website.”
Burkina Faso: Learn Fulfude in six seconds
Stephen believes you can learn Fulfude (one of the languages spoken in Burkina Faso) in six seconds!: “We're all familiar with dazzling language-learning promises made by Linguaphone and similar companies: Speak fluent Arabic in just three weeks! Swedish in a weekend! Well, here's Fulfulde in six seconds. Just learn this...
Nigeria/South Africa: Nigeria vs South Africa
Nanja Boy writes examines the fate of Nigerians in the recent xenophobic attacks in South Africa: “Lest we have forgotten, Nigerians economy now harbors the best of their businesses. For goodness sake, the lists of Nigerian-based multinational companies wholly owed or controlled by South Africa people or government is far...
Voices that consent to xenophobia
“The prominent South African political folk who have enjoyed the protection of the Mozambican people and are today entrepreneurs or leaders, why don't they raise their voices strongly to protect the Mozambican against xenophobia and stop their patricians?”, asks Bosse Hammarström [pt].
Caucasus: Eurovision Results
The Armenian Observer says it is satisfied with fourth place in last night's Eurovision Song Contest going to Armenia's Sirusho. However, it also raises the question of political voting in the international song contest, something which my The Caucasus Knot examines in more detail. Regardless, Unzipped: Gay Armenia says it...
Libya: Double Standards
From Libya, Abaalhasan [Ar] objects to the police's inaction against a group of gays who were standing outside a bar and disturbing passers-by and asks: why does the government crackdown on any voice of opposition but not on those who go against the norms of society? It is not clear...
China: Q&A with Premier Wen
An increasing number of questions are being asked as China continues to mourn for the massive number of lives lost in the earthquake in Sichuan earlier this month. Veteran news figure Rose Luqiu has posted her recent questions to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on her blog along with his answers, in full.
Taiwan: Tibet Issued Manipulated in Taiwan Election
Kwang Yin from interlocals.net explained how Tibet March riot had been manipulated in Taiwan during the presidential election period.
Hong Kong: Floating Voices
An independent video maker Law Man Lok has produced a video, called floating voices (with English subtitles), on inmediahk.net, a citizen journalist site in Hong Kong. (via inmediahk.net)
Israel: Going Green with Gore
Former Vice President Al Gore added his name to the list of political luminaries visiting Israel in recent months. Gore joined the Board of Governors celebrations at Tel Aviv University this week to accept the $1 million Dan David Prize for environmental activism.
Israel: Tel Aviv Transport Goes Hybrid
Green cabs are coming to Tel Aviv, says Isrealli, who writes that “the Tel Aviv Municipality and the Israeli Taxi Drivers Association have agreed on a plan to transition much of the city’s taxi fleet to hybrid cars.”
Israel: Religious Communities Object to “Sex” in Advertising
“[Blank] in the City?” An Israeli media company is protesting advertising promoting the release of the new “Sex and the City” movie, claiming the word “sex” is offensive and should be removed. “You really don’t know whether to get angry or just laugh at the ridiculousness of this whole thing,”...
Israel: We Have No iPhones Today
“Apple finally sells the iPhone in the Middle East but not in Israel. Who cares?” asks Ouriel Ohayon. “On average [every] 1/3 person I meet has an iPhone here… Well done Steve Jobs!”
Palestine: Mass Exodus from Gaza?
“50,000 Arabs have left Gaza since last June,” writes Carl in Jerusalem. “In April, I reported that some 80% of Gaza residents want to leave, but this is the first time that the ‘Palestinian Authority’ admits it.” Bethlehem Conference organizer Hassan Abu Libdeh commented: “There is a Palestinian brain drain...
