Stories from 24 July 2008
Indonesia: Divorce cases increasing
Indonesia Matters reports that divorce cases are up in Indonesia with more women initiating the divorce. Adultery is still the top reason for divorce but it is interesting to note that “political differences” are also causing family break-ups.
Indonesia: Imported bananas
Indonesia Anonymus notes that bananas sold in some of Indonesia's supermarkets are all imported. The typical Indonesia's ‘pisang ambon’ banana variety is not available.
Indonesia: Haunted houses
Elyani's Place writes about how some Indonesians are warding off ghosts in haunted houses.
South Korea: History of Traveller's Complaint
Picking up the discussion on “Why expats in Korea complain so much?” Matt from Gust of popular feelings quotes texts from century-old history books on traveller's complaint about Korea.
Indonesia: Alternative education
Indonesian blogger Asri Wijayanti muses about the philosophy of education in Indonesia.
South Korea: Temporary Worker Protection
Korean women worker association has an article about a symposium on Temporary Employee Protection Act.
Vietnam: Inflation and rising petrol prices
Vietnam is facing a double-digit inflation. The rising petrol prices have also contributed to falling prices on Vietnam's stock exchange.
Central & Eastern Europe: IMF Policies and TB Deaths
Eternal Remont draws attention to a recent study from Cambridge University claiming that IMF's policies in Eastern Europe during the 1990s implicitly caused the deaths of some 100,000 people from tuberculosis.
Philippines: New airport terminal
Justwandering.org and Lakwatsero are jubilant over the opening of the largest and most advanced airport terminal in the Philippines. Budget airlines will be the first to use the terminal.
Russia: Foreign Policy Under Medvedev
Der Spiegelfechter (GER) analyses Russian foreign policy under president Medvedev, following the publication of the country's first foreign policy concept in eight years.
South Korea and Mexico: Kidnap
Robert Koehler from Marmot's Hole discusses about the kidnapping of 5 Koreans in Mexico. There are still a number of unanswered questions.
Russia: Gulag Online
Robert Amsterdam draws attention to an online exhibition on the Soviet Gulag system – created by the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University in cooperation with Russian human rights organization “Memorial” – and posts a video depicting how arrests were made during the Stalinist era.
Photos of Preah Vihear
John Vink posted several photos of Preah Vihear temple which captured the tension between Thailand and Cambodia. Both countries are claiming the historic site.
Russia: Megatons to Megawatts Programme
Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces analyzes the risks involved with converting Russian uranium from nuclear warheads into low-enriched uranium for nuclear energy – the Megatons to Megawatts programme.
Azerbaijan: US Election Conference
Michael J. Totten's Middle East Journal reports that it will be visiting Azerbaijan next month for a conference on the U.S. Presidential Election and locally related matters. The blog also solicits questions from its readers which can be put to senior government officials in the country as well as religious...
Russia: .su-Domain On the Rise
LJ user russ_cyberspace turns attention to the fact that the Internet domain .su (Soviet Union) has grown sevenfold since 2006.
Russia: Call to Shut Down ICTY
A Step at a Time accounts for an RFE/RL-interview with a Russian academic, commenting on the country's wish to close the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) after the arrest of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic.
Poland: Business and Bureaucracy
Edward Lucas reflects on the difficulties for business still posed by obsolete imperial bureaucratic traditions in large tracts of Central and Eastern Europe.
Caucasus: Tolerance
Social Science in the Caucasus comments on its own research into the attitude of citizens of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia towards their neighbors.
Armenia: Divided Blogosphere
Following news that two bloggers were allowed to attend a presidential press conference, Unzipped comments on the event and says that the unprecedented event was actually a disservice to the local blogging community. The pro-opposition Nazarian accuses the bloggers of serving the government.
Liberia: Happy 161 birthday!
Emmanuel at Liberia Journal celebrates the 161st anniversary of the Liberian Declaration of Independence, which was signed on the 26th of July 1847. He also adds a very informative overview of Liberia's history since its birth as a country.
