Stories from April, 2009
Russia: Teen Curfew; Police Officer's Shooting Spree
President Dmitry Medvedev approved changes to children's rights law, allowing regional authorities to bar unaccompanied minors under the age of 18 from public places from 10 PM to 6 AM. Below are some reactions from the Russian blogosphere, including a few mentions of Denis Yevsyukov, a Moscow police officer who shot three people to death and wounded six at a supermarket on the day he turned 32.
India: TEDIndia Fellows program
The TED Conference is now accepting applications for 100 TEDIndia Fellows to participate in the TEDIndia Conference in Mysore, India. Approximately 75% of the Fellows will represent the South Asian region, and 25% will represent other regions of the world. For information about how to apply please visit this and...
Caribbean: Funding the Fight against HIV
Both Abeng News Magazine and Repeating Islands note that “Caribbean governments have been urged to provide financial support for the Regional Coordinating Mechanism of the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP).”
Caribbean: Keeping Track of Swine Flu
As concerns over the Swine Flu outbreak continue to mount, Caribbean bloggers are educating themselves, just in case...
Cayman Islands: Same Old
“This election has the potential to again be nothing more than ousting current politicians who do very little and replacing them with politicians who are entirely incapable of bringing their generalizations to life”: The Cayman Islands’ Blog Man is afraid it's politics as usual for his country's upcoming elections.
Liberians Are Talking, Are You Listening?
"Liberia's national image has been defined by parachute foreign correspondents for nearly its entire history, since it was first founded as an independent republic by freed Black slaves from the United States in 1847. Today, Liberians are able to tell their own stories to an international audience by taking advantage of participatory media tools like blogs and photo-sharing sites," writes David Sasaki following a blogging workshop he ran last year at the American Embassy in Monrovia, Liberia.
Azerbaijan: Last day of April
Sheki, Azerbaijan comments on today's massacre of at least 13 students at a university in Baku and says that the end of April will now live on in the collective memory of the country as the day when the children of some families never came home.
Bangladesh: Value Achievements Not The Ancestry
Citing the example of Dr. Atiur Rahman, the newly appointed governor of the central Bank of Bangladesh who made a life out of nothing, Shada Kalo urges Bangladeshis to stop the practice of “inferring the quality of a human being based on his or her family background.”
India: Not On The Voter List
“There are many I know who won’t be able to vote because their name is not on the electoral rolls”, wrote Rajesh Jain in his blog. Later during the day when the blogger went to vote in South Mumbai, he found that his name was missing in the Voter list.
Bhutan: Flood Threat
Tshering Tobgay reports that the river Gotu-chu, a tributary of the Pho-chu river had swollen which could trigger a possible flood downstream along the Pho-chu and Punasang-chu rivers in Bhutan. The blogger comments: “We now know that we are ‘not prepared’ to handle a flood in Punasang-chu.”
Sri Lanka: Living In Fear
Indi.ca sheds a light on the lives of Tamils in Colombo as some of them are living in fear of being arrested for questioning without prior charges. The bloggers comments: “Perhaps this is necessary in the short-term (this being my lifetime) but it’s important to remember that this is a...
India: The Maoists-Naxalites And The Threat To Democracy
On 16th of April, 2009, just as the Indian elections began, the Maoists attacked police and poll booths in Latehar district of the eastern state of Jharkhand in India. Words From Solitude provides background of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) and its factions and the naxalite movement to understand...
China: The Beijing Consensus
Few are calling China's overseas investment strategy a Consensus comparable to the Washinton/IMF model, so how then best to describe it? Tom Orlik at China Translated explores a few alternate understandings.
Kuwait: Swine Flu Blues
While election related stories are dominating Kuwait's Arabic-language blogs, this week the Swine Flu seems to be the pet topic of the English-language blogosphere. Amer Al-Hilal has the story.
Morocco: Praising Al Jazeera
Cinema and Movies praises Al Jazeera for its excellent documentary on Ahmed el Marzouki, a former prisoner in Tazmamart, and the author of the memoir Tazmamart: Cellule 10.
Kyrgyzstan: Elections and Ethnic Tensions
Elena tells who will be the single presidential candidate from the opposition in Kyrgyzstan and reports on the inter-ethnic conflict in the country.
Kazkahstan: Major bank admits default
Zara writes an update on entry of the state in BTA Bank. “The subsequent shift in ownership have eventually led to aggravation of the situation around the country’s largest private bank’, she says.
Kazakhstan: Internet Regulation Amendments
Adam analyzes possible outcomes of the law on internet regulation, which is currently passed through the lower chamber of Kazakh Parliament.
Kazakhstan: Expansion of the Uranium Industry
Joshua Foust reports that Kazakhstan is aggressively internationalizing its uranium industry by opening new mines, establishing high-profile international partnerships and lobbying for the global uranium fuel bank.
Uzbekistan: $67, a price for heroism
Musafirbek informs from Uzbekistan that the country's president decreed to award veterans of WWII with a one-time pension of $67.
China: Ongoing urbanization
With the Olympics long gone, the gentrification of Beijing neighborhoods continues. “Still, the signs go up, the schools and shops close down, and jobs, education and the prospect of permanent residence are suspended,” writes changing china blogger Ray Deng in his two-part photo essay.
