16 February 2013

Stories from 16 February 2013

Horse is ‘Normal Meat’ in Kazakhstan

  16 February 2013

Here in Kazakhstan, especially by Kazakhs, horse is considered to be a normal meat/edible flesh, in the same way as chicken, beef or fish is. Although horses bred for eating are treated very differently, and indeed look different, to those destined for racing or transport on the steppe, a horse is just another animal that serves a purpose.

Tajik Civil War ‘Will Continue’

  16 February 2013

Unless ALL the sides [that fought against each other in the 1990s] admit their fault and say, "Yes, we did kill, we did start the conflict," the civil war will continue... It looks like we are ashamed of admitting that we are all to blame for the bloodshed.

Lies, Damned Lies, and Turkmen Statistics

  16 February 2013

When it comes to statistics, the Turkmen government remains committed to the time-honored Soviet principles of book-cooking, data fudging and avoiding the uncomfortable truth at all costs. 'Good' statistics, such as the rising grain harvests, are triumphantly covered by state-run media, while bad news are never reported.

Saudi Charged for “Down with the House of Saud” Tweet

  16 February 2013

Bader Thawab is a Saudi Twitter user who was arrested back in September 2012 after writing tweets calling for the fall of the Saudi monarchy. Journalist Iman al-Qahtani managed to get a leaked copy of the list of charges that he faces, and published them online. Among the charges are following political dissidents on Twitter.

State-Sponsored Violence in Angola

  16 February 2013

Blogger Claudio Silva argues on Africa Is a Country that a deeper look at state-sponsored violence (urban evictions and crackdowns on protest) is needed to put into perspective two viral videos that recently shocked the country (see Global Voices coverage). He writes “the violence in Angola comes from the very...

Mozambique: Mouthwatering Zambezian cuisine

  16 February 2013

Afreaka blog [pt] pays homage to food from central Mozambique, from Zambézia Province. They write, besides spice, the secret is “lots of coconut milk, made fresh, grating coconut into hot water”. They describe five unique dishes made with coconut.

Memorable Moments from the Brazilian Carnival

  16 February 2013

The importance of Carnival in Brazilian culture cannot be overplayed. Love it or hate it, the Party has bestowed joy on its anonymous masses, fired up those with an opportunistic unbridled penchant for the pursuit of fame, and destroyed the reputation of public figures who have lost all reason and personal boundaries. Check out the following for some magical, shameful, irreverent, controversial and entertaining flashbacks from this important Brazilian extravaganza.

Australian Senator Nick Xenophon Detained in Malaysia

  16 February 2013

From Hussein abdul Hamid's blog Steadyaku47: ‘Federal independent Senator Nick Xenophon has been detained by Malaysian authorities. He was taken into custody on his arrival at Kuala Lumpur airport and told he was considered a security risk.’ He was to meet with the electoral commission and a senior government minister.