Stories from 3 April 2007
Congo-Brazzaville: Florence Arthaud, Tourism and Corruption
Vous Reprendrez Bien Un Peu d'Humanisme is upset [Fr] that veteran sailor Florence Arthaud has accepted the Sassou-Nguesso government's offer to participate in a sailing event there in less than 2 weeks for an event that is designed to boost local tourism. Says the blogger: “Are French sailors naive? Does...
Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea: Tell-all Biography of Slain Activist Félix Moumié's Widow
Says Le Pangolin [Fr]: “Marthe Moumié is the widow of Cameroonian nationalist Félix Moumié, assassinated in Geneva by the French Secret Service in 1960. Marthe writes a book prefaced by [Algerian President] Ahmed Ben Bella… In the book, Victime du Colonialisme Français [ i.e “Victim of French Colonialism”], Marthe explains...
Malaysia: Maid Culture in Japan and Malaysia
The blogger at a Japanese popular culture site J-List side blog explains why his daughter was surprised that the maids at a home that they were visiting in Malaysia were cleaning the house.
Brunei: Lasting Marriages
The blogger at Old Man's Blog relates the story of a friend whose marriage is on the rocks. The blogger who is himself a divorcee hopes for his friend to reconcile with her husband and get back together. The blogger laments the increase in marriages falling apart in Brunei.
Iraq: Thoughts on Captured British Sailors
Iraqi blogger Omar links to his own article in which he discusses his thoughts on the captured British sailors. “Understanding the motives and goals of Iranian government is useful in predicting the way the crisis will end,” he notes.
Bahrain: 15 Arab Billionaires Equal Gates
Bill Gates is worth as many as 15 Arab billionaires, writes Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif, who links to an article on Arab billionaires here.
Bahrain: Life Without Cable TV
Bahraini blogger emoodz is enjoying life without cable television and he tells us why here.
Algeria: US Should Encourage Saudi
Algerian blogger Nouri cautions the West of misreading recent Saudi manoeuvres in leading Arab states. “The Americans should encourage Saudi leadership, because if their reaction to the Saudi drive for organization is mismanaged or misinterpreted, the consequences are potentially dire. And the consequences of continued Arab ambiguity and disunity are...
Myanmar: Blood Diamonds and Myanmar
The movie Blood Diamond reminds blogger Man Actually of his younger mining days in Myanmar. “And being once a miner myself deep in the jungle far north Myanmar's very own Jade Mines, you guess! how this movie would be so special to me..Along with the Archer and Solomon, the whole...
Afghanistan: The Other Side
Afghanistanica writes about the other side of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
Somalia: email describes “new terror”
New Somalia publishes an email from Somalia describing “new terror”:We have lived in Mogadishu for 60 years and we have never known fighting on the scale of what we have suffered in the last week. The Ethiopian troops have been using tanks and missiles to demolish whole parts of the...
Armenia: Parliamentary Election Monitor
Onnik Krikorian rounds up news concerning Armenia's upcoming parliamentary election.
Armenia: Solving Politics
Responding to the news of an attempted assassination of a provincial mayor that left four people dead, Harmick comes up with an innovative solution for solving Armenia's politics
Kyrgyzstan: Deepening Divisions
Kyrgyz Report says that a prominent opposition leader in Kyrgyzstan is worried that the current tensions between the president and his former prime minister, who is currently trying to unite the opposition, will deepen regional divisions in the country.
Turkmenistan: Head of the People's Council
At neweurasia, Peter says that the selection of Turkmenistan's president as head of the Halk Maslahaty (People's Council) indicates that he is more powerful than was previously assumed.
Nigeria: confusion before election
Grandiose Parlor gives up on Nigeria general election, “As for me and my household, we have given up on the presidential elections because there’s nothing awe-inspiring or even encouraging among the present cadre of candidates. It is a shame that some of the promising candidates have either been bullied to...
Ukraine: Betting on Yushchenko
On Saturday, tens of thousands of people attended two major rallies in Kyiv: supporters of prime minister Victor Yanukovych and his ruling coalition were brought to European Square to protest president Victor Yushchenko's plans to dissolve the parliament; supporters of Yushchenko and his current allies stood at Maidan Nezalezhnosti, voicing...
Turkey is Typing…Film and Other Arts
Pursuits of the artistic type seemed to be on the fingertips of the Turkish bloggers this week from film reviews to art galleries and music. Film Athanasia's Daily gives us her review of the film Apocalypto, which she gave a 7 out of 10: That is to say, that man...
Africa: Afrigator arrives
A new blog aggregator from Africa, Afrigator: “Afrigator launched today, an excellent new website dedicated to aggregating blog posts from Africa. It joins the ranks of 1-year old Muti, 1-month old Amatomu, and 1-week old Mashada.”
Iran:Tehran based music band in N.Y.
In Project 300 we read “Tehran-based music band Hypernova, spearheaded by former Vancouverite -and friend of a friend- Raam, is in New York. Check out what they're up to. The music scene in Iran is quite complex, none of the music I have so far posted here is actually ‘legal’...
India: Bloggers Code of Conduct
Dina Mehta doesn't quite buy the concept of a Bloggers Code of Conduct. “It seems to me, culturally, it is a very North-American thing to think up. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love some aspects of North America and have met some of the finest folks there – but...
