14 February 2009

Stories from 14 February 2009

Jordan: Empowering Women, Emos and Live Mesh

Discussions on empowering women to the behaviour of teenagers to the latest new software which lets you synchronize your all your data on your computer are taking place at the Jordanian blogosphere this week. Mohammad Azraq brings us the latest.

14 February 2009

Palestine: A community oven in Gaza

Canadian activist Eva Bartlett describes how a community oven has been set up in a village in southeastern Gaza: “For the many villagers who can’t afford, or can’t find, cooking...

14 February 2009

Egypt's Leading Women

Egyptian women, like many other women, have great potential once they unleash their power. Eva habil, Passant Refaat, and Radwa Saad El Din are three women who took the lead in three different fields. Marwa Rakha has more in this round up from Egypt's blogs.

14 February 2009

Bahrain: No need for speed

Maldita, a Filipina living in Bahrain, thinks Bahraini teenagers should be provided with more recreational facilities – instead of using public roads to entertain themselves in their cars.

14 February 2009

Brazil: A Falling Castle (and Congressman) in Two Acts

Recently elected Vice-President and Ethics Magistrate of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies, Edmar Moreira has resigned following only one week in the post, after a property of his – a medieval-style castle in the middle of tropical Brazil about which the tax office were not told – has suddenly come into the spotlight. Will he be investigated? Bloggers speculate on this tragic-comic plot.

14 February 2009

USA: Marrying for Love and Country

Whether for love or for visa, deciding whether to marry is never an easy thing. In the United States, where more than 12 million people live as "undocumented" immigrants, falling in love and getting married to an American is one way legal status can be resolved. Immigrant bloggers share their stories.

14 February 2009

Azerbaijan: GONGOs

Blogs dealing with democracy across the globe continue to discuss last week's controversial visit to Azerbaijan by Obama campaign manager David Plouffe. Democracy Digest is the latest and says that...

14 February 2009

Bangladesh: Citizenship Amendment Act 2009

Tulip Siddiq writes about the newly enacted Citizenship Amendment Act, 2009 in Bangladesh which fixed the previous anomaly that children of any Bangladeshi woman marrying a foreigner would not be...

14 February 2009

China: Prominent Blogger Stabbed

Prominent blogger and novelist, Xu Lai at ProState in Flame was stabbed twice in a book store, One Way Street, at Beijing when he finished a public talk. Zola and...

14 February 2009

China: On privatization of rural land

For those not quite interested in fireworks and dumplings, the Spring Festival mainly becomes a yearly pretext for reflecting upon the condition of Chinese peasants and the state of China’s...

14 February 2009

Georgia: Homphobic TV

Unzipped: Gay Armenia reports that a LGBT organization in the Republic of Georgia has filed a complaint against the deputy head of Public TV for homophobic remarks.

14 February 2009

Indonesia: Divorce and polygamy

I feel guilty writing about divorce and polygamy on Valentine’s Day. But these two unmentionable topics are also realities of love and relationships. In Indonesia, more women are divorcing their husbands because of polygamy.

14 February 2009

Japan: Municipal opposition to Street View

Demands by municipal assemblies and bar associations across Japan that Google revise [ja] or even halt altogether its new Street View service, rolled out in 12 Japanese cities late last summer to mixed reactions, have triggered renewed debate on issues of privacy and the limits of public space. The latest moves by municipal governments come on the heels of demands by a group of Japanese lawyers and professors, who petitioned Google in mid-December to retract its service.

14 February 2009

Brunei: Think Big ICT Business Plan Competition

The 'Think Big ICT Business Plan Competition' aims "to motivate local entrepreneurs to realise their ideas in the field of information and communications technology with the opportunity to develop their business ideas and enhance their creativity; as well as to provide a platform for identifying, nurturing and showcasing entrepreneurial talents in Brunei."

14 February 2009