Stories from 11 December 2008
Cuba: Gabo in Havana
Both Yohandry's Weblog (ES) and Havana Times blog about Nobel Laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez's visit to Cuba “for the final days of the Havana Film Festival, an annual event that he rarely misses.”
Haiti, U.S.A.: Relief Delay
The Haitian Blogger reports that storm victims are dying of starvation because of the delay in getting goods to the island: “The situation is that aid agencies are in control of foreign aid to Haiti and the Haitian government as usual, is being cut out of the picture and were...
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Differently-Abled
“I thought that not so long ago, children with disabilities were like dirty family secrets to be kept hidden away and far from curious eyes”: Abeni attends a Christmas programme at a School for Children with Special Needs in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and comes away with the realization...
Trinidad & Tobago: Artistry
Blogging from Trinidad and Tobago, the bookmann interviews Trinidadian wire artist Susan Dayal and reviews graphic artist Marlon Darbeau's most recent installation.
Cuba: Idealogical Monogamy
“If concepts such as ‘sick’ have now been banished from the study of homosexuality, why does the adjective ‘counterrevolutionary’ continue to be used for those who think differently”: Yoani Sanchez puts the question to Mariela Castro Espin, the director of the Cuban National Center for Sex Education.
Guyana: Flooding
Living Guyana posts photos of the capital city, which has been inundated with flood waters.
Pakistan: Lessons to remember
Hassan Baig at Teeth Maestro reminds Pakistanis about the ten lessons they should learn.
Cameroon: Africa meets Japan via the kimono
Kamer Stories features Cameroon-born fashion designer Serge Mouangue, who created the brand WAFRICA that blends the traditional kimono with the classic African cotton fabric.
Philippines: War in Mindanao
A Mindanao-born student explains that the number one reason for the unresolved conflict in the southern Philippines is the national government's disregard of the Moro people's right to self-determination.
Philippines: Official Skips Hearing to Watch Boxing Match
Sugob ni Longino questions the priorities of Environment Secretary Lito Atienza who skipped the Philippine Senate budget hearings to watch the fight of Filipino boxing sensation Manny Pacquiao.
Armenia: Anti-Corruption Day
Armenia: Higher Education & Sciences comments on how Tuesday's Anti-Corruption Day was marked in the country. However, the blog concludes that given the amount of corruption in the education system, such an event should be held daily rather than annually and ironically notes that a recent survey of university students...
China: Peace Keeping Force At Village Election?
ESWN translated Liu Jinlong's blog post and local media report about a village election escorted by armed peace keeping force.
Australia rallies to “Stop the Clean Feed”
The Australian blogosphere has largely come together to protest a government internet filtering scheme that will require Internet Service Providers to offer a “Clean-Feed” service to all homes, schools and public access points to the internet.
Bulgaria: Anti-Muslim Petition
Veni Markovski writes about an online petition against Bulgarian Muslims.
Afghanistan: Chafing Under Talibanization
All is not smooth sailing in Afghanistan, and Azar Balkhi explains why: The Taliban insurgency is historically a predominantly Pashtun movement, still have very little influence among other Afghanistan minority ethnic groups like the Tajiks, Uzbek and Hazaras. It’s hard to keep others from one who believes that gun is...
Ukraine: New Coalition, New Speaker
Foreign Notes writes about the Ukrainian PM's address to the nation and the parliament's newly-formed coalition and its newly-elected speaker.
Russia: Kandinsky Prize Winner
IZO writes about Alexei Belyaev-Gintovt, the winner of the Kandinsky Prize.
Russia: Profile of a Chechen Human Rights Lawyer
At OpenDemocracy.net, Anastasia Valeeva writes about a Chechen human rights lawyer who heads the “Memorial” office in Urus-Martan.
Greece: Photos From Athens
piran café posts photos sent by a friend in Athens and writes: “This looks more like Beirut than the city that hosted the 2004 Summer Olympic Games.”
Taiwan: police evict Wild Strawberries
In the early hours of this morning police forcibly evicted students from the Wild Strawberry movement [report also in Chinese (zh)] from Freedom Square in Taipei. The students had maintained a continuous protest there for over one month after an earlier protest at the Executive Yuan in response to police...
Egypt: Inanities on Homosexuality
Sarah Carr, blogger and journalist addresses how a published feature titled “Honey, I’m homosexual” and online comments perpetuate myths about homosexuality and, in doing so, contributes to the culture of intolerance in Egyptian society.
