Stories from 23 February 2010
Italy, Russia: Berlusconi's Russian Style
IZO links to LJ user maratguelman‘s post (RUS) and writes: “Silvio Berlusconi travels round Rome in a Russian-made VAZ-Patriot car and likes to wear a commando jacket given to him by Putin.”
Russia: “Merry Gnome”
IZO links to LJ user postoronniy-cb‘s post (RUS) and writes: “When prez Medvedev visited Omsk recently, a sign advertising a play for children called We Await You, Merry Gnome was removed from his route in great haste at the last moment.”
Russia: Torrents.Ru Shut Down
IZO reports on some Russian bloggers’ thoughts (RUS) on why “the massively popular Russian file-sharing site torrents.ru has been shut down.”
Russia: “Best of Russia” Photo Exhibition
IZO writes about Best Of Russia '09 photography exhibition at Winzavod Contemporary Art Center in Moscow: “The wide range of amateur or semi-pro content and the big turn-out reminded me of what the Royal Academy Summer Show in London used to be, before professional artists squeezed the non-professionals out: a...
Russia: Online Media Competition Lacks Transparency
The Russian Federal Telecommunications Agency announced [RUS] a competition to support online media. Adindex.ru reports [RUS] that requirements for lack transparency and suggests the competition is a way to encourage new media loyal to the government.
Bahrain: Lymphoma and Leukaemia Support Group
Bahraini Dr Nabeel Tammam has formed a Facebook group entitled Bahraini Lymphoma and Leukaemia Support Group.
Jordan: Taxed to Death?
Are Jordanians being ‘taxed to death'? Read Naseem Tarawnah's take here.
Egypt: Fan Page for ElBaradei
Egyptian fans formed a Facebook group in support of Mohamed El Baradei – whom they hope would run for President. The group has so far attracted more than 6,300 fans.
Bahrain: Blog Hacked?
Bahraini blogger Mohammed Al Maskati suspects that his blog has been hacked and here‘s what he did.
Bangladesh: Protecting The Pahari People
Faisal at The Spittoon highlights the recent violence against the Paharis (hill people) in Bangladesh and asks: “what good is having a secular liberal democracy if you don’t protect your minority communities?”
Africa: MILEAD Fellows Program for African Women
Moremi Initiative for Women’s Leadership in Africa is pleased to announce its call for applications for the 2010 Moremi Leadership Empowerment and Development (MILEAD) Fellows Program for young African women leaders.
Africa: Homophobia is the problem
Simon argues that homophobia and not homosexuality is the problem in Africa.
India: The Influence Of Local Language News Channels and Media
“The recent expansion in Indian language news channels and media, preceded by the expansion in the Indian language newspaper market has brought television to the fore, as a powerful new force in the evolving Indian society”, comments Vikram at An Academic View Of India.
Kenya: What does Kenya really need?
Kipsang asks, “What does Kenya really need?”: DEVOLUTION OF POWER. We’ve been asking for a new constitution for a very long time & God knows we need it. The current constitution carries in it all that’s wrong with Kenya…
Poland: The End of Winter
“8 things we’ll miss about winter when it’s gone” – at Polandian.
Poland: “Plenty of Money”
“Years ago, when the inflation in Poland was in triple figures, we were all multi-millionaires,” writes the POLSKI blog and links to a Flickr set of photos of the Polish banknotes from the 1980s and the early 1990s.
South Africa: What do bloggers think of Zuma's child out of wedlock?
I will keep it simple: The South African President Jacob Zuma has had a child out of wedlock despite having 3 wives of his own. What do South African bloggers think of a president with 3 wives, who has been married 5 times and now has a child out of wedlock?
Uganda: On the screening of gay porn in church
Has Pastor Martin Ssempa gone too far? Over 300 people were gathered in church last week in Uganda by the controversial anti- gay bill supporter Pastor Ssempa to watch gay porn for back up support for the anti- gay bill.
Dominica: Going Green
Dominica will be hosting a Green Investment Conference later this year: Repeating Islands reports.
Haiti: 4.9 Tremor
“When houses are barely standing after an earthquake and a tremor like this comes along more houses crumble and more lives are lost”: Pwoje Espwa blogs about Haiti's latest tremor.
Puerto Rico: Artifacts Seized
The Voice of the Taino People Online notes that “the French authorities confiscated a piece of the Taino culture valued as high as one million euros…”