Stories from 17 January 2007
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Markale Massacre
Bosnia Vault writes: “Over a decade later, the Markale Massacre; and the allegation that the shell was fired upon by the ABiH forces in a ruse to gain public sympathy; has become the lynchpin argument of those in the Balkans and in the West who have unapologetically thrown their support...
Russia: Lada Vs Hummer
“Lada against Hummer” in Moscow – at Two-Zero‘s.
Ukraine: Diaspora Illustrator
Ukraine List writes about Yaroslava Surmach-Mills, a Ukrainian-American illustrator.
Ukraine: Kushnaryov's Death
Foreign Notes explains what Yevhen Kushnaryov's death likely means to Ukrainian politicians.
Ukraine: Hunters Discuss Yevhen Kushnaryov's Death
Evhen Kushnaryov, 55, former governor of Kharkiv region and the deputy faction leader of prime minister Victor Yanukovych‘s Party of Regions, died today from gunshot wounds suffered in a hunting incident Tuesday. According to media reports, Kushnaryov and approximately ten other men were on their way home after a day...
Jamaica: Political advice from Lifehacker
B.art hacks an article from the personal productivity blog Lifehacker about ways to become politically involved to make it relevant to a Jamaican audience.
Central Asia: The LDS Church in Central Asia
The Golden Road to Samarqand writes about the LDS church in Central Asia.
Uzbekistan: Media Reform
Tolkun calls a new law on the media in Uzbekistan “high-level hypocrisy.”
Caucasus: Unemployment
Onnik Krikorian examines why it is so difficult to get an accurate picture of unemployment levels in the South Caucasus.
Uzbekistan: New NGO Law
At neweurasia, “night_eulen” discusses a new law governing foreign NGOs in Uzbekistan which he says is a façade to make Uzbekistan look better to the outside world.
Armenia: Economics & Law
Onnik Krikorian says that though Armenia recently received fairly high marks for its legal framework governing investments, the failure to enforce the laws is holding the economy back.
Kyrgyzstan: Big Pocket Library
Yulia translates a Russian-language post on the popularity in Kyrgyzstan of a two CD set of electronic texts called the “Big Pocket Library.” The author is dismayed at the popularity of the texts, which include, among other things, bomb-making instructions.
Iran:Fashion Show in Iran
Legofish compares a photo from an Iranian woman in a fashion show in Tehran with another photo from a western fashion show.The blogger says Iranian show was called the women of my land.
Armenia: Year of the Cell Phone
Blogrel's Burnell writes that 2006 was the year that cellular phones ended up in everyone's hands in Armenia, and wonders what is coming this year in telecommunications in Armenia.
Tahitian Music
Tahiti Litterature, Musique posts various excerpts of Tahitian music.
DRC: Post-Election Landscape
Le Blog du Congolais summarizes the post-election landscape as follows (Fr): “The general trend is to wait and see. People are giving the President the benefit of the doubt . He is far from making people secure so persistent is the question mark on his competence, his good faith, his...
Can Digital Rights Management Save African Artists from Copyright Infringement?
Says Africa 2.0 (Fr): “Copyright infringement is killing African artists without any intervention from authorities. I was reading an interview of Beko Sadey this morning who was saying that she had two albums ready but would not release them because of bootlegging. How sad! … Can't we explore technological solutions...
Afghan Whispers: Cock Fighting, Winter, and Insecure Borders
Afghan Lord talks about a new sport in Afghanistan, cock fighting. You can watch a video clip of cock fighting on Afghan Lord's blog.The blogger adds, Morgh Janngi which means cock fighting is a traditional winter sport as is dog, camel fighting and donkey racing. In Morgh Janngi, men (only)...
Guadeloupe: Still Site of Magical Beliefs
Says Atout Guadeloupe (Fr): “To this day many Guadeloupeans believe in magic and go to “quimboiseurs” and “gadezafe” [i.e. magicians] to take care of private business and disputes with third parties! Guadeloupe still has many magical sites.”
Bangladesh: Diaspora returing home
Drishtipat points to a report on diaspora returning to Bangladesh, and an interesting conversation in the comments space follows.
Bangladesh: Update on politics
With events unfolding by the day, Rezwan has an update on Bangladeshi internal affairs. “There have been some positive developments in Bangladesh. People are finally finding peace at home with the actions of the new caretaker government.”
