Stories from 17 June 2008
China: A glimpse at Olympic garden sculptures
Safin at FunEnclave posts a series of photos of artistic garden sculptures done in Chinese and Socialist style in preparation for the upcoming Beijing Olympics.
Jordan: Attacks which will not happen
Jordanian blogger Hareega asks how come the UK is able to warn of terrorist attacks in the UAE — but not when they happen on its own turf. “Do they just warn us from the attacks that will not happen?” he asks.
Kuwait: Twitter Addict
Kuwaiti blogger Angelo is now a self-confessed Twitter addict.
Morocco: Websites and Newspapers
With the world going digital, many newspapers are meeting the challenge by making their news pages accessible online. The Arab world is no different. Moroccan blogger M S Hjiouij [Ar] complains about the standard of a popular newspaper's website in this post.
Zimbabwe: WOZA members released
Members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise have been released from prison: Eleven of the 14 WOZA members arrested on 28th May 2008 were finally released from remand prison on bail on Friday evening (13th June) after 17 days in custody.
India: Clothes and Women
Bohemian Rhapsody from India writes on the obsession with labeling women on the basis of the clothes they wear.
India: Watching the News
DesiDabba on the state of TV news in India, focusing mostly on high profile crimes.
Sri Lanka: A Revolution
Kottu urges that a revolution is the only answer for Sri Lanka's troubles.
Bangladesh: Meeting Dr Yunus
a bengali in TO attends a talk by Dr Mohammed Yunus, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on micro-lending.
Togolese singer Vanessa Worou
Kangi Alem writes of Togolese singer Vanessa Worou [Fr]: “at times a little reminiscent of [Angelique] Kidjo, but on the whole, confidently sung and with a simple, effective orchestration.”
Burkina Faso: Highway banditry
Burkinabe blogger QuophyBlogeur writes about employees of the Ghanaian company, STC and their harrowing encounter with an illegal roadblock [Fr] set up by bandits with AK-47s.
Trinidad & Tobago: Pot Hounds
Andre Bagoo posts a flickr photoset of street dogs, saying: “‘Pot hounds’ and the environments they inhabit are the perfect symbols for life in Trinidad and Tobago today.”
Trinidad & Tobago, Haiti: Small Shoes
Trinidad and Tobago-based artist Chris Cozier posts a photo of a child's shoes taken on his last trip to Haiti: “Something about the way that the shoes had become so worn out struck me. They looked like islands in the sea but also like the two countries that make one...
Cuba: Review of Sanctions
Both Babalu and Child of the Revolution blog about the European Union‘s upcoming decision on whether or not to end sanctions on Cuba.
Barbados, Venezuela: Maritime Claim
Notes From The Margin sheds some light on the Barbados/Venezuela maritime controversy, saying: “The waters under discussion can ONLY be Venezuela's if you accept that 1. Half of Guyana is actually Venezuela. 2. That two countries (Venezuela and Trinidad) can commit a third and fourth countries (Barbados and Guyana) to...
Jamaica: Reggae Sumfest
After the recent sponsorship controversy surrounding Jamaica's Reggae Sumfest festival, Montego Bay Day By Day is happy to report that “the show shall indeed go on…which is a good thing for the local businesses…”
Japan: Iwate-Miyagi Inland Earthquake
On June 14, an inland earthquake reaching M7.2 on the Richter scale struck the Tohoku region of Japan. In Iwate and Miyagi, the hardest hit prefectures, 10 have been confirmed dead, about a dozen are missing, and more than 200 people have been injured.
Kazakhstan: Living Under Cult
The main discussion this week in Kazakhstani blogosphere was caused by the suggestion that was voiced by a number of MPs to rename the capital city Astana to Nursultan, in the honor of the long-ruling president Nursultan Nazarbayev, who retains power for more than 18 years already. It is worth...
China: Press ID
Zan Ai-zong writes in inmediahk.net about the government monopoly in the issuing of press card in China [zh]. The practice results in the direct control over journalists or some news agencies would sell the card to individual at very high price.
Kazakhstan: General prosecutor reaches out to Austria
Adam reports that the Kazakhstan's General Prosecutor visites Austria in an apparent attempt to foster extradition of the disgraced former presidential son-in-law Rakhat Aliyev.
Afghanistan: Toward Genuine “Afghanization”
Barnett R. Rubin offers a guest post by Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh, PhD, Director of the Center for Studies of International Relations (CERI) Program for Peace and Human Security, CERI/Institute of Political Science, Paris. Her article was scheduled to appear in Le Figaro on June 12, the day of the International Conference...
