Stories from 27 February 2009
Bangladesh: Why The BDR Massacre?
Shada Kalo analyzes the motives behind the BDR (Border guards) mutiny in Bangladesh and discusses the intelligence and negotiation failures as the horror of massacre of army officers by the mutineers came to light today.
Colombia: Restrictions and Curfew in Medellín
In Medellín, Colombia, Juan David Escobar is critical about the new restrictions for male passengers on motorcycles and a city-wide curfew for bars outside of designated areas [es]. He points out that in spite of what the government has been saying over the past 10 years about the arrival of...
Bolivia: Donations Other than Ambulances
With the recent crisis involving dengue fever throughout Bolivia, Carlos Gustavo Machicado of Guccio's [es] writes that there are more pressing health concerns in which donations other than ambulances are needed.
GCC: Currency Dilemma for Arab Gulf Consumers
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) hopes to achieve a monetary union, with a common currency, by 2010. Bloggers from the region, which groups Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, debate the merits of the union and more importantly what name they want for their new currency.
Trinidad & Tobago, U.S.A.: Aggravation Nation
Trinidadian blogger Now is Wow Too is finding the U.S.A. “an unfortunate source of aggravation”.
Mexico: Criticizing Wasteful Government Spending
The Mexican federal government recently updated information about its expenses and its budgets for various public institutions on their transparency portal. Using this public information, many bloggers have identified expenses for questionable recreational activities that have cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of pesos.
Trinidad & Tobago: Living for Carnival
This Beach Called Life suspects that Trinidad Carnival may have a positive impact on longevity.
Bermuda: Budget Response
From Bermuda, Vexed Bermoothes comments on the opposition's response to the government's 2009-10 Budget.
Uganda: Fire destroys Owino Market
A massive fire gutted Kampala's Owino Market early Wednesday morning, seriously injuring five people and destroying thousands of stalls. As many as 25,000 traders, mostly women, are estimated to have suffered losses.
Bangladesh: Massacre Cannot be Justified
“What do you call it when a group of ‘disgruntled’ BDR soldiers [Bangladesh border guards] started their expression of grievances by open-firing on the commissioned army officers? Mutiny? Rebellion? Revolt? Uprising?” asks Kotha-Chilo. The blogger concludes the post with: “BDR soldiers – now I feel ‘disgruntled’ at your massacre. I...
Guyana: The Ripple Effect
The far-ranging effects of the CL Financial failure have now reached Guyana. One blogger has been assiduously following the latest developments...
Jamaica: Passion
Jamaican diaspora blogger Geoffrey Phlip republishes text from a lecture he gave about the importance of pursuing your passions.
India: Environmental Scholars On a Very Cool Mission
About two weeks ago, I read in Tom Friedman's column in the New York Times about two young scholars from the U.S who were on a very impressive mission in India. Alexis Ringwald and Caroline Howe are touring the country in an electric/solar powered car to raise awareness about the...
Armenia: 1 March post-election clash anniversary
As the opposition prepares to mark the 1 March post-election clashes which left at least 10 dead, The Armenian Observer says tensions are increasing in the capital, Yerevan. Meanwhile, writing for the Frontline Club blog, Global Voices Online's Caucasus Editor comments on the release of two damning human rights reports...
Armenia: Dollar Panic
The Armenian Observer reports that many in the country are rushing to change their local currency into dollars and limits have been introduced at currency exchanges.
Japan: Bloggers on the Nakagawa affair
Over a week has passed since now-infamous footage of Japan's former finance minister Shōichi Nakagawa stumbling through a 20 minute speech at the G7 meeting in Rome made world headlines and hit the top of YouTube charts. In this post I feature a handful of responses to the speech by Japanese bloggers.
Kyrgyzstan: Smoke Country
Elena published some information about smoking among the youth in Kyrgyzstan.
Kazakhstan: Rally of the opposition
Zhanna writes a post about the rally staged by the leading Kazakhstani opposition party in Almaty.
Korea: Economic downturn and which companies have the best chances for survival.
While all of us hope the economic downturn is over soon, it seems that it’s a long term battle. Companies are cutting employees or decreasing their business scope. A netizen shares his experience of working at a Japanese company. Different business operation styles are introduced. 일본회사에서 근무하고 있습니다. 대기업에서 근무하다가 ...
Kyrgyzstan: Hard Time for the Opposition
Elena writes a history of the persecution of the oppositional movements in Kyrgyzstan.
Kazakhstan: Lomography
Ehot posts a collection of images taken in Almaty, Kazakhstan, with the legendary Lomo camera, which gave name to the whole trend in photo art called lomography.
