Stories from 14 July 2008
Armenia: Diaspora Survey
Social Science in the Caucasus comments on its research on difficulties faced by ethnic Armenians from the Diaspora when they relocate to Armenia. The blog notes that there is often competition between local and foreign-born Armenians as well as differences in mentality and values.
China: ChinaBounder back with a book
ChinaBounder, the country's first major (English-language) male sex blogger, is back after a prolonged blogging absence with a China-bashing book, excerpts of which will be released each day from now through to the end of the Olympics. See Jeremy Goldkorn's post at Danwei for more revealing info.
Bangladesh: An Expensive Wedding
A wedding is considered the most important event of a Bangladeshi girl's life and an integral part of the local culture, however these celebrations are getting more and more expensive. See a this post about typical weddings in Bangladesh.
Iran: A disabled man talks about blogging
Radio Zamaneh [Fa] has an interesting interview with a disabled man who discovered blogging. He discusses how blogging made him feel less isolated and opened him up to a whole new world. As a result of this experience, he has set up all sorts of others in Iran with their...
Iran: A man with a mission?
Jomhour, Iran based blogger has published several photos of Hooshang Amirahmadi, the founder and president of American-Iranian Council, in a hotel in Tehran. Many believe he came to Iran with a mission: to encourage Iranian politicians to start negotiation with Americans.
Mongolia: National TV Censured for Political Bias
Tom Terry informs the readers that the Mongolian National Television (MNTV) was censured by the Permanent Committee of Legislation in Parliament for it's failure to ensure journalistic independence during the riots and subsequent State of Emergency declared by the President.
Kazakhstan: Any Chance for Democratization?
Adam reflects on the political developments in Kazakhstan in light of its future OSCE chairmanship.
Afghanistan: Bombing of the Embassy
Barnett R. Rubin provides an overview of the last week's terrorist attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul.
Afghainstan: Gender Debates
Sanjar says that “women’s question” in Afghanistan provides a vivid illustration of ongoing emotional and sensitive debates on universalism versus cultural relativism, individualism versus tribalism, secularism versus religious state.
Iran: Two student leaders were arrested
According to[Fa] Sedaye paye baroon,an Iranian blog, Bahareh Hedayat and Mohmmad Hashemi, two leaders of Tahkim Vahdat, a student association, were arrested on Sunday. The blogger adds nobody knows why it happened.
Uzbekistan: Bukhara
Silk Polyester Blend reports on his trip to Bukhara, one of the most ancient and beautiful towns of Uzbekistan.
Afghanistan: The Soccer Ladies
Islam-Feminism posts a story about Afghan businesswomen traveling to the U.S in October to apprentice on the job at American firms.
Iran:Jahan News site was filtered
Several Iranian blogs and sites reported that Iran based Jahannews (means world news) site was filtered last week after it published a letter, written by an Iranian parliament member, criticizing Saeed Mortazavi, Tehran's chief prosecutor. The main issue in this letter was about corruption in one of Iranian universities.
Afghanistan: Isolating Kandahar
Joshua Foust notes that Kandahar is being aggressively isolated and attacked by the Taliban during this year's fighting season.
Mongolia: Post-Electoral Explosion
Joshua Foust highlights the challenges Mongolia faces in its latest round of elections.
Japan: Door of the Year
The englishman shows some photos on the nominations for the Japan's Door of the Year award.
South Korea: Why do Expats in Korea Complain So Much?
Ask A Korean! explains to Roboseyo on “Why do expats in Korea complain so much?”
China: China Stopped Arms Embargo on Zimbabwe
Ruan Yi feng noticed China government's role in voting against an arms embargo on Zimbabwe in U.N. Security Council.
China: Olympics and Politics
Kang Guo-ping (康國平) felt that the Beijing Olympics is getting more and more politicized because of the fear of terrorists attack.
China: On Olympic Design
Chong translated excerpt of Ai Wei Wei's (艾未未) interview on Beijing Olympic design. The full article in China can be found here.
China: Human Fresh Search Engine
In commenting about the human fresh search engine phenomena, Liu Hong-bo felt that anonymity had become impossible in the Internet world.