Stories from 7 August 2010
Pakistan: Call It Pornistan?
Last month, Fox News published a report claiming that Pakistan ranks first in porn web searches according to Google index. Pakistani Bloggers analyze the report and raise some valid points with respect to the ongoing Internet censorship issues in the country.
Voices of Young African Leaders Heard at Obama's Forum
The President's Forum with Young African Leaders took place in Washington, DC from August 3-5 2010. Delegates from Sub Saharan Africa were invited to exchange ideas on development in their countries as many were celebrating their 50 years of independence.
Russia: New Bill to Rename Russian Police
Bloggers discuss [RUS] the Russian President's draft of police reforms bill published online at this website [RUS]. Proposed change of the name from “militsiya” [RUS] to “police,” one of the main symbolic changes in the draft, will alienate policemen even more, LJ user semen_serpent writes [RUS].
Paraguay: Salvador Cabañas Using Guaraní To Express Himself
Paraguayan footballer Salvador Cabañas continues to recover from the bullet that is lodged in his brain after an altercation in a Mexico City bar. Carlos Rodríguez of Rescatar [es] notes that Cabañas has been reverting back to his mother tongue of Guaraní as a way of adapting after the injury,...
Bahrain: Expensive Vote Buying
With parliamentary elections planned in Bahrain for October, voters have upped the prices for their votes, reports a local newspaper. Mahmood Al Yousif comments on vote buying here.
Bahrain: Election Indicators
Bahrain is gearing up for its parliamentary elections in October. Mahmood Al Yousif shares some indications of the pending elections here.
Bahrain: CrowdVoice Video Out
CrowdVoice.org, a user-powered service that tracks voices of protest from around the world by crowdsourcing information, has a new video which explains how it could be used, announces Mideast Youth here.
Kuwait: Rise in Suicides among Migrant Workers
“Over the past two months, there have been 23 reported cases of suicide or attempted suicide by migrant workers in Kuwait, meaning that about every 2.5 days a migrant worker commits or attempts suicide in Kuwait,” writes Fatima, at Mideast Youth.
Egypt: The Wonderful World of Kamel Kilani
Egyptian Baheyya introduces us to the wonderful world of Kamel Kilani, the modern Egyptian pioneer of children’s literature.
Bahrain: Back to Ranting
After a three-year hiatus, Bahraini Rants announces he is back to blogging here.
Bahrain: Watching Yusuf Al Siddiq
bint battuta in bahrain is pleased with an Iranian historical serial – Yusuf Al-Siddiq, which tells us the story of Joseph, son of Jacob, grandson of Isaac, great-grandson of Abraham, and which is dubbed into Arabic.
Ghana: Translating constitution into local languages
Nana discusses the idea of translating Ghana's constitution, presently available only in English, into Ghanaian local languages.
Africa: African movies I would like to watch
Mighty African writes about new African movie he would like to watch: “First off…Themba is a South African movie with the tag line – A boy called Hope…Next up, we move to Kenya where we have a German-Kenyan collabo called Soul Boy…On to Bongo land [Tanzania], we have Lovely Gamble.”
Kenya: Don't dismiss those who rejected new constitution
Those who rejected the new Kenyan constitution should not be dismissed: “So one in every three Kenyans took issue with the new constitution to the extent that they voted to reject it. As we who voted YES! celebrate, let’s not forget them or dismiss the concerns they expressed.”
Armenia-Azerbaijan: Overcoming negative stereotypes in the South Caucasus
This guest post for the World Bank's World Development Report 2011 is the first in a series on "New Media and Conflict" which explores the affect of new communication technologies on issues of conflict and development.
Nepal: Fourth Round Fails to Elect a Prime Minister
United We Blog! for a Democratic Nepal reports on the stalemate in the election for a new Nepali Prime Minister: “the fourth round of voting today in the parliament failed to elect a prime minister. Fifth round of voting is scheduled for Aug 18.”
Pakistan: TEDx Lahore
Hasan Mubarak at Lahore Metblogs posts a review of TEDxLahore, which took place last Saturday, 31st of July, 2010.