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15 December 2008

Daily archive · 11 posts

Stories from 15 December 2008

Ecuador: Default on External Debt

Written by Milton Ramirez · Latin America

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa recently announced that his country will not repay back its remaining external debt. Citing the economic crisis, Correa calls the debt, “immoral and illegitimate” and he echoes the sentiments of ordinary Ecuadorans who say that they cannot pay anymore. Bloggers wonder whether the report that supported this decision was too partisan and what it might mean for the country's future.

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Updates from 15 December 2008

Iraq

The Moor Next Door deconstructs the cultural implications of having a pair of shoes thrown at you: “In either case, the insult is obvious: Few people of any culture would take having a loafer or sneaker thrown at them as an expression of endearment.”

• Deborah Ann Dilley

Palestine

The Palestinian music documentary “Slingshot Hip Hop” opens in Dubai according to Bataranzi.

• Deborah Ann Dilley

Turkey

Talk Turkey presents the faces of the youngest member of the Ottoman Dynasty.

• Deborah Ann Dilley

Iraq

In response to the recent throwing of shoes at US President Bush by an Iraqi journalist, Kurdish blogger Rasti adds the following suggestion: “If it had been a Kurdish mother launching the shoes, Bush would have easily had one shoe firmly lodged in each nostril at that close distance. When you need something done right, better ask a Kurdish woman to gt it done instead of screwing around with amateurs.”

• Deborah Ann Dilley

Cyprus

The Cyprus government is currently attempting to ban GPS systems that use Turkish place names in the Turkish-occupied Northern Cyprus, Homeboy Media News reports:

The Ministry of Education and Culture meanwhile has come up with some additional reasoning for the campaign to ban the GPS receivers. In its feedback, the Ministry pointed out that the Greek place names of Cyprus have been shaped throughout the centuries. It is a fact that the Turkish “so-called authorities” have indeed undertaken a systematic campaign to alter the nomenclature of occupied northern Cyprus. Further, the Ministry pointed out that, according to both the UN and UNESCO, placenames are part of a nation’s cultural heritage.

• Deborah Ann Dilley