Stories from 19 October 2008
Syria: Is it winter yet?
Here comes the winter, announces Syrian blogger Sasa. After a heat wave, a rain storm took the Syrian capital by surprise. “So do we get those winter clothes out or not?” he asks.
Morocco: Beni Znassen Mountains
From Morocco, Hassi Milli shares scenes from the Beni Znassen mountains.
Palestine: Shame on Us
Under a post entitled Shame on Us, Palestinian Leila notes: “Until we cleanse these heinous sins, adhere and submit to what we know Islam to be, then we deserve to live in this shame and we deserve the scorn the world levies at us.”
Israel: Heroes
From Israel, Aussie Dave shares his views on TV hit Heroes.
Kuwait: Stray Cats a Problem
From Kuwait, Chikapappi complains about stray cats in her neighbourhood. “I don’t know what we could do as citizens and people living in here in Kuwait to solve this problem, they’re populating like rats and believe me, those cats are full of diseases..” she remarks.
Iraq: Egyptian Editorial Attacks Syria
Roads to Iraq notes: “Strange attack from the Egyptian newspaper Al- Gomhuria on Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Attri and accusing Syria with spreading Shiaism.”
Macedonia: Update on the ‘Computer for Every Child’ Project
The blog devoted to the “Computer for Every Child” project gives updates [MKD] from the biggest school in Macedonia: […] “Because of the old electrical installation in the school the computers in this high school won’t be installed and used throughout the whole school year.” […]
Iraq: Abuse of Power
Inside Iraq draws our attention to the abuse of power in Iraq and how those with guns are in control. “The way those people who have guns behave makes me like many Iraqi civilians feel that Iraq became a wild jungle where survival is only for the strongest. This kind...
Syria: Deadly crash
Sasa, from thesyriannewswire, reports on a deadly crash in Damascus.
Mozambique: Casualties over gas leak in Estarreja
Paulo Granjo [pt] blogs about a piece of news that local newspapers in Mozambique didn't pay much attention to: an accidental leak of aniline gas in a Mozambican chemical plant caused 14 casualties. Nobody has died. “The information has been provided by the Relief Operations District Command and it is...
Singapore: Discussion about “User Generated Content”
During a pre-event dinner for the Singapore Digital Media Festival 2008, participants held a discussion about “user generated content.”
Indonesia: Becak vehicle
Tempus Fugit blogs about Becak, which is a “very nice and common transportation in Indonesia.”
Brazil: Call for reactions against media manipulation
Eduardo Guimarães [pt] member founder of Movimento dos Sem Mídia [Medialess Movement] calls for citizen participation on the protest against media manipulation and distortion of facts in Brazil. “I am again proposing to make this blog an engine of a national uprising against the media, a peaceful, citizen, public denunciation...
Guinea-Bissau: On the increasing popularity of mobile phones
Jorge Rosmaninho writes at the Lusophone online magazine O Patifundio [pt] about the mobile phone fever in Guinea-Bissau. “There is not a single teacher who would not complain that, at the beginning of the lessons, students waste the first ten minutes arguing over who would have the right to charge...
Bolivia: Social Movement March Towards La Paz
Hugo Miranda has photos and videos of the social movement march [es] heading towards La Paz, Bolivia that hopes to apply pressure to Congress to pass a law for the Constitutional Referendum.
Japan: Media Bias in Potato Field Eviction?
Images appearing on Japanese TV of government forces evicting crying nursery school children from potato fields in Osaka, part of plans to extend a highway (the Second Keihan Highway) between Kyoto and Osaka, has sparked many on the Japanese net to respond with accusations of media bias.
Japan: Reaction to Asahi article on supermarket inspection
An article in the Asahi Shimbun [ja] about a visit by Japanese prime minister Taro Aso to a Shinjuku supermarket has been taken up on 2-Channel [ja]. Aso reportedly visited the supermarket to inspect rising food prices, and then proceeded to have dinner at the (very luxurious) Imperial Hotel. As...
Bangladesh: Sculptures, Bigots and Bloggers
A new controversy rattled Bangladesh last week. Authorities in Bangladesh were forced to remove five sculptures of Bauls (mystic folk singers) including Fakir Lalon Shah in front of the Zia International Airport in the face of protests from an Islamist group. They formed a sculpture prevention committee which pressed that...
Nagorno Karabakh: Mass Wedding
517 Design [RU] posts photographs of a mass wedding which took place in the disputed mainly Armenian-populated territory of Nagorno Karabakh during which as many as 700 couples tied the knot. The blogger's English-language site also carries more information on the cash incentives ranging from $2,000-100,000 offered to the young...
Angola: On the sadness and happiness of being a returnee
Angola, 1975. The country had just become independent and the former Portuguese colonizers, as well as their families and many Angolan citizens, had to flee leaving everything they had behind. 30 years later, they blog the tale of being returnees and about the sadness and happiness this change in their fortunes brought them. See a video of the dramatic mass emigration.
Ukraine: BlogCamp CEE 2008
Michelle Knisley of Greetings from Kyiv shares her thoughts on the Central and Eastern European BlogCamp 2008 that is currently taking place in Kyiv, Ukraine.
