July, 2006

Stories from July, 2006

Georgia: United National Exams

Ana praises Georgia's new higher education entrance exams, which are designed to limit opportunities for corruption and ensure that students entering higher education institutions are adequately educated and prepared for higher degrees.

Georgia: Kodori

Vasili Rukhadze has a detailed and informative post on Georgia's recent capture of the Kodori Gorge from a rebel warlord, noting the significance of the event in Georgian and regional politics. He says that Georgia's success mark the beginning of a new era in Georgian politics.

Uzbekistan: Revoked Licenses

The Long and Winding Road has a report on Uzbek pop musicians losing their licenses to perform in public after a journalist accused their lyrics of not being authentic Uzbek poetry and them of being bad musicians.

DRC: Post-Election Roundup

  31 July 2006

“A Peaceful Election” Congolese at the polls. Photo by Federico, courtesy of Extra Extra. By and large, the voting has ended in the DRC, according to The Salon: With the exception of the three towns that had to continue/report the voting for today, due to numerous arsons (Mbuji-mayi, Mweka and...

Nigeria: Missing Lagos

  31 July 2006

“Lagos,” writes Jangbalajugbu, “is a city that habours the hardworking as well as the lazy. The sane and insane. It is a city with different kinds of people from the rich, educated, wealthy, brilliant & intelligent to the dejected, the accursed, the incorrigible, the hopeless, the dead but breathing-walking corpses,...

Nigeria: Scotland Yard

  31 July 2006

Detectives from Scotland Yard have just arrived in Nigeria to help with the investigation into the murder of politician Funsho Williams who died last week in Lagos, writes UKNaija. “If they fail, I can just imagine the Nigerian government crowing ‘Well, even the experts from Scotland Yard couldn't crack it,...

Zimbabwe: Morgan Tsvangirai speech

  31 July 2006

Eddie Cross on Zimpundit posts in its entirety the speech given by former union leader and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to a National Convention held by Churches in Zimbabwe Saturday to debate the crisis in the country, and the way forward.

Kenya: Mourning a father

  31 July 2006

“Next year will be 25 years since you were shot ruthlessly and left to die in some ditch,” writes Farmgirl to her much-missed father. “Oh just want to tell you that Raila and his cronies plotted the whole coup thing that led to your death…I wish he would say sorry...

The unshackling of Bangladesh

  31 July 2006

Tasneem Khalil reports that Bangladesh is the cover theme for August 2006 issue of Himal Southasian, South Asia's first and only regional magazine. The magazine's introspective comment: "Bangladesh is set to become a powerful member of the world community, once it deals with its difficult issues of mal governance and confrontational politics".

Old dating practice

  31 July 2006

Cigay of Bhutan Weblog writes about an age old tradition of Bhutan. Young men used to visit a girl's house discreetly at night, to let her know of his feelings and his intention to marry her and have children with her. With the passage of time, this rural practice has been misunderstood and grossly abused by those who are richer or more powerful.

Indonesia: Chinese Valentine's Day

  31 July 2006

Indonesian blogger Christine Susanna Tjhin, currently a student in China, talks about the traditional Chinese Valentine's Day. This year, the day falls on 31 July.

Mexico: Godwin's Law a la Mexicana

  31 July 2006

Reminding readers of Godwin's Law, which says that “as an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one,” Eduardo Arcos posts (ES) recent photos of election protests in Mexico.

Albania: Reactions to the Sunday Times Article

annabengan of annasblog reposts the Sunday Times Magazine's article on Albania, and the “official reply/explanation from the chief editor of Sunday Times.” annabengan's Albanian friends thought the article was “fair” – while her non-Albanian friends considered it “bad journalism.” One reader wrote: “[…] if this were written about a poor...