15 December 2010

Stories from 15 December 2010

Bahrain: Much Ado About An Ad That Says Nothing!

  15 December 2010

The short film, INFINITY, that had almost half a million viewers in two weeks and was supposed to be an advertisement for a telecommunication company in Bahrain says nothing about them! Beyond the wonderful illusion of play and adventure, lies turbulence where services and products are undermined, and a lack of credibility prevails, say netizens.

Israel: The Land of Fire and Ice

  15 December 2010

Severe winter storms hit most of Israel this week with strong winds, rain and snowstorms causing country-wide havoc. In the North, the Hermon Mountain was blanketed with more snow than the country has seen in 20 years. This happened days after the Carmel region was devastated by forest fires which left 43 dead and caused damage estimated at between 100-120 million Shekels.

South Africa: An evening with FW De Klerk

  15 December 2010

An evening with FW De Klerk, the last State President of apartheid-era South Africa: “Last Friday, December 10, 2010, I had the privilege of listening to a talk by former South African President Frederick W De Klerk about the transformative power of change.”

Sudan: Low turnout for female voters

  15 December 2010

What is the reason behind a low female turnout to register for the January 9 referendum?: “At the Dr. John Garang Mausoleum in the heart of Juba, under a baking morning sun, two dozen or so men wait patiently in line to be registered to vote. A separate line for...

Sudan: Hip hop star Emmanuel Ja raps for peace

  15 December 2010

A former child soldier in Sudan Emmanuel Ja raps for peace in Sudan: “On the eve of South Sudan’s independence referendum, international hip hop star Emmanuel Jal is calling out to the world to say, “We want peace,” with the help of friends like Alicia Keys, Peter Gabriel, and George...

Azerbaijan: Hospitality vs. privacy

  15 December 2010

Aaron in Azerbaijan [Eng] shares his thoughts on the local practices and traditions relating to hospitality in Azerbaijan, comparing them to those found in the West. The blog notes how perceptions of hospitality differ from culture to culture.

Brazil: WikiLeaks and the Pre-Salt Oil Exploration

  15 December 2010

A WikiLeaks cable revealed that the former Brazilian presidential opposition candidate, José Serra, held talks with the Director of Business Development and Government Relations of Chevron, Patrícia Pradal, to benefit the foreign oil industry at the expense of national Petrobras, concerning the pre-salt exploration contracts, says [pt] André Raboni, at...

China: Ghost cities

  15 December 2010

Chandni Rathod and Gus Lubin from Business Insider presents satellite pictures of ghost cities in China. Ghost cities refer to newly built empty cities with very few residents. They one of the sources of China's GDP and economic bubbles.

China: The World of Guarantee

  15 December 2010

You have to guarantee that the content of your website be clean, or else you will be penalized by “DNS suspension” or “web-maintenance”. Lee Chi-leung from interlocals.net translates an excerpt of a local investigative report on the “Guarantee system” adopted by the Chinese government.