· December, 2007

Stories about Development from December, 2007

Burkina Faso Soon a Biofuel Producer

  28 December 2007

Last month, Burkina Faso and the French company AgroEd signed a framework agreement for developing a biofuels industry. Netizens express their skepticism about whether Burkina can become a competitive producer of biofuels, and whether ordinary people, in particular the farmers, will benefit.

Trinidad & Tobago: Stop the Traffic

  28 December 2007

“How can an island of 2 million people with an area the size of London have major traffic problems?”: Seldo.com blogs about the gridlock in Trinidad's capital city.

Hong Kong: Wedding Card Street

  28 December 2007

Lee Tung Street, more known as the wedding card street, located at Wanchai downtown is demolishing under the urban renewal project. A local resident May, age 59, had hunger strike for 4 days to save the street, yesterday she fainted and was sent to the emergency ward – more from...

Nari Jibon: Women bloggers and the dowry problem in Bangladesh

  28 December 2007

This week we look at some brilliant articles from Nari Jibon’s women bloggers. They discuss the menace of wedding dowries, which make the lives of poor families difficult by forcing parents to consider female children as burdens. Also, one NJ participant dreams of becoming president and changing the present society to an enlightened, educated and dowry-free society.

Cuba: Freedom and Environment

  27 December 2007

Babalu Blog disagrees with a New York Times article that suggests the ending of the US embargo could mean the end of environmental preservation in Cuba.

The First Six Months of Rising Voices

  26 December 2007

As we all get ready to enter 2008, Rising Voices celebrates its first six months of existence. It is time to step back, reflect on where we've come and think about where we are going.

Ukraine: Yulia Tymoshenko and Coal Miners

  25 December 2007

Yulia Tymoshenko returned as Ukraine's prime minister on Dec. 18. Five days later, she was in Donetsk region, visiting the site of Ukraine's worst coal mining accident, the troubled Zasyadko mine. While there, she declared: "We'll be working on it and will make it so that in our country both young people and children would want to become coal miners." Below is a discussion of Tymoshenko's promise that took place at Korrespondent.net, a Ukrainian news site.

Russia: Christmas Tree Decorations

  23 December 2007

Here is a holiday season story that's got very little of the traditional holiday spirit in it. Posted by LJ user souffrante and accompanied by Valeriy Leushev's photos, it's as much about Russian bloggers' childhood memories as it is about globalization, consumer nationalism, bad management, labor rights and the power of blogging.

Tajiksitan: Parliament against witches

  21 December 2007

Tajikistan is trying to put a spell on witchcraft and fortune-telling. Actually, this comes as a no-surprise to many Tajiks after all those strange laws that have been passed one after another by our parliament. The bill on witchery is also part of the “Cultural Revolution” in Tajikistan, started earlier...