18 August 2009

Stories from 18 August 2009

Morocco: A Day with Single Moms

American researcher Jacqueline Powers, blogging on Vie au Maroc (Life in Morocco), reflects on the day she spent in the outskirts of Casablanca, volunteering with INSAF, a shelter association for single mothers.

Bahrain: High-Tech Police?

Hussein Nasser has a suggestion: “Police officers in Bahrain make a phone call to get the details of a given car by specifying the plate number. They should install a gadget in police cars that can scan and read and interpret car plate numbers via a GPRS.”

Egypt: Kareem Amer's Appeal Postponed

Egyptian Kareem Amer, who was sentenced to four years in prison for insulting Islam and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in February, 2007, will now have his appeal case heard on September 15, says the Free Kareem blog. The court was originally scheduled to hear it today.

Bahrain: Choosing A Natural Path

In Bahrain, Alia Almoayed describes the natural toiletries she uses – including a crystal deodorant: “Older members of my family, they tell me that everyone used it in the old days. In Bahrain they call it ‘shabba’. I wonder why people today would rather use the commercial toxic stuff instead.”

Africa: The Africa Knowledge Transfer Partnership

  18 August 2009

CareerNigeria has a post about The Africa Knowledge Transfer Partnershio (AKTP): “The Africa Knowledge Transfer Partnership (AKTP) is among the world’s leading initiatives helping businesses to improve their competitiveness and productivity through the better use of knowledge, technology and expertise…”

Ghana: The emergence of Ghanaian movies

  18 August 2009

Mighty African celebrates the emergence of Ghanaian movie industry: Ghanaian movies are starting to gun for awards. Revele Productions’ ‘Run Baby Run’ has been the most successful movie to date while Agony of the Christ picked up a bunch of nominations at the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAAs).

Nepal: Protest About Protests

  18 August 2009

Ujjwal Acharya at The Radiant Star protests the destructive nature of the street demonstrations in Nepal: “Protests are necessary at times – when the state leaves no other options – but the aching fact of protests in my country is: they begin with blocking traffic.”

Bhutan: Starting Over in America

  18 August 2009

At Dal Bhat Tarkari photographer and documentary film maker Anya Vaverko writes about her recent documentary about the Bhutanese refugees of cultural repression and their new life in USA as a part of their resettlement efforts. The Documentary is titled “Big Buildings: Starting Over in America” and you can watch...

Pakistan: Say No To Drone Attacks

  18 August 2009

Ziyad Faisal at Pak Tea House builds his logic against the US drone attacks on Pakistani civilians: “Isn’t it abundantly clear that US drone attacks are merely providing the Al-Qaeda militants and Taliban with a wonderful propaganda opportunity, to recruit yet more people using the destruction from US attacks as...

Pakistan: Baitullah Mehsud's Spokesman Captured

  18 August 2009

Kalsoom at CHUP! – Changing Up Pakistan informs that Maulvi Umar, the spokesman of the Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud has been captured by Pakistan’s Frontier Corps and he acknowledged the death of Baitullah Mehsud.

Caribbean: Athletics Kudos

  18 August 2009

On the heels of Usain Bolt's record-breaking time at the World Championships, Caribbean bloggers pay tribute to the outstanding performance of the female Jamaican track and field athletes, while Havana Times is pleased to report that “Cuba’s female triple jumpers gave the island its first two medals at the Berlin...

Haiti: H1N1 Vaccination

  18 August 2009

“The H1N1 virus is not as deadly as the common cold. The panic and fear being generated…stands to enrich the powerful pharmaceuticals who will make gianormous profits from any mandated vaccination”: The Haitian Blogger examines the issue.