Stories from 25 March 2009
UAE: Tweeting the Rain from Dubai
It's raining in Dubai and Twitter is abuzz with reactions about the unusual torrents for this time of year.
Palestine: A Mother's Pain
In Gaza, Lebanese activist Natalie Abou Shakra tells the story of a mother who took part in a protest for the release of her son, a political prisoner in the Nafha top security prison in Israel, whom she hadn't seen for 25 years; on her way home from the protest...
Madagascar: Roots of the Turmoil
Stephen Ellis, co-author (with Solofo Randrianja) of Madagascar: A Short History, explains that Ravalomanana's removal can be attributed to two main factors: his use of presidential power to further business interests and his alienation of the provincial political class and the armed forces.
Cuba: Antúnez Surrounded
Uncommon Sense and Octavo Cerco share their thoughts on reports that the Cuban police “have surrounded the home of Cuban dissident Jorge Luis García Pérez (Antúnez), who for more than a month has [led] a hunger strike to protest abuses by the Castro dictatorship.”
Guadeloupe: Happy 70th!
Repeating Islands Blog sends greetings to Guadeloupean novelist Myriam Warner-Vieyra on her 70th birthday.
Cuba: Detainees Freed
The previously detained Cuban photographer and musician have been released – Sunrise in Havana has the details.
Tunisia: Bloggers Divided on Qaradawi's Visit
Discussions continue in the Tunisian blogosphere following the visit of Egyptian Islamic scholar Yousif Qaradawi, who is based in Qatar, to the secular country two weeks ago. Lina Ben Mhenni reports from a divided blogosphere.
Jamaica: Lessons from the By-Election
Abeng News Magazine asks of the results of the recent by-election in West Portland: “What does it tell us about where things currently stand in Jamaica, if this constituency can be viewed as a microcosm of the Jamaican body politic?”, adding, “It’s high time this dual citizenship issue is seriously...
Guyana: Don't Get Fooled Again
Guyana-Gyal blogs about Allen Stanford, issuing this piece of advice she learned from a friend: “Beware of those with sugar-tongue and oily lips.”
Nigeria: Blogsville Initiatives
Blogsville Initiatives is a post about various initiatives started by Nigerian bloggers, which include Naija Bloggers Award and Blogsville Idol 2007.
Liberia: Liberian tailor wins US$10,000
Samuel T. Bowin is a Liberian tailor who lost everything except a pair of trousers and a shirt. How did he win US$10,000?
Libya: From Funerals to Weddings
From the death of a cousin after a lethal penicillin injection to discussing why Libyan men prefer marrying 'stupid' women over those who are educated, Fozia Mohamed sifts through posts written by established and new bloggers in her country to bring us those stories and more.
Kenya: Turning shipping containers into offices
Afromusing writes about a project using shipping containers as pre-fab offices in rural Kenya.
Egypt: Google doodle by orphans
More than 160 Egyptian orphans took part in a Google doodle competition, held for the first time in Egypt and the Middle East. The winning design will be displayed on Egypt's Google homepage google.com.eg on April 3, which marks Orphan Day in Egypt. Eman AbdElRahman reviews the Egyptian blogosphere for reactions.
Liberia: Obama is not the first African-American president
In his post titled, Everything you ever wanted to know about Liberia (And more), David Sasaki points out that the first African-American president of any country was the Liberian president J.J Roberts who was born in Norfolk, Virginia.
Zimbabwe: Bloggers not happy with the Coalition Government
Zimbabwean bloggers are unhappy with the way things are turning out within the coalition government between Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai. The reactions are a mixture of distrust of Mugabe ad disappointment in the policy approaches of the MDC.
Africa: Google AdSense Payment Scam
Bloggers and website owners in Africa are getting taste of a new scam. Naturally, it's probably not originally created to be a scam, but it's turned in to that for those in Africa who use Google AdSense, Miquel reveals.
Africa: What is African drama?
“What is African drama?,” blogger Anne Manyara asks. “Is it any kind of drama, as long as the cast is African? A play written by an African? A play written by anyone, as long is it is about African issues? Or is it a play performed in a venue with...
Maldives: Petition And Democracy
The Maldives government is facing a growing number of petitions protesting various things. Abdullah Waheed asks some pertinent questions.
Sri Lanka: Divided Political Opinions
Somapala Gunadheera at Groundviews analyzes the grid of Sri Lanka political opinion, which shows how deeply divided the opinions are.
India: Analyzing Past Elections
Kenney Jacob at Disruptive Technologies, Education and Some Social Issues blog publishes a series of analysis on India's past elections. Read parts I, II, III and IV.
