Despite the presence of guns, Tel Aviv feels peaceful, like most cosmopolitan cities although some reminders of danger exist — bags are searched before entering shopping centres and train stations, writes Ben Iaquinto.
Columns / Letter from…
Crikey readers phone home.
Letter from Iran: nuts and riots aside, extreme kindness lives here
Over 30 days I interacted with the people of Iran like I’ve never interacted with the people of a foreign country before. Nowhere have I encountered a people so universally kind, friendly and generous.
Letter from: France, captivated by le duel entre deux personnalités
Australian political events are seen differently here in France. Whatever happens next in Australia’s federal election, the world is watching, writes France-based freelance journalist Alan Austin.
Zimbabwe: chance in a lifetime goes begging
All is not beautiful as spring arrives and our chance in a lifetime constitution making process has turned into a shambles, writes Cathy Buckle, from Zimbabwe.
Getting to know the friendly, welcoming face of Iran
As so many who’ve been to Iran have told me, the openness, generosity and kindness of the Iranians is overwhelming.
Zimbabwe: ongoing illegal evictions of farmers
Farmers with legal rights to their land are being moved on at gunpoint, writes C.M. Jarrett, chairman of the South African Commercial Farmers Alliance, in Zimbabwe.
Redmond, Washington: inside Microsoft HQ
If Microsoft is an also-ran, the news has yet to permeate the company’s Pacific Northwest headquarters. The sheer scale of Microsoft doesn’t really hit until you arrive at “the campus”.
May Day in Berlin: neo-Nazis, anti-fascists and techno
The Berlin May Day riots have become an institution — a spectacle of violence attracting people from all over Germany to the suburb of Kreuzberg, writes Anna Saulwick from Berlin.
Bishkek: a day in the life of a revolution
We, the Soviet-era folks, call the bloody Kyrgyzstan uprising a revolution, but elsewhere in the world people call this madness and riot, writes Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan resident Adis Sydykbaev.
Plymouth: dairy, dairy, quite contrary
UNESCO lists the Cornwall language as extinct and as of 2008 only 2000 people speak it fluently. This may soon change. The first Cornish language crèche opened a few weeks ago, writes Rafiq Copeland from Plymouth.
Letter from…Rio de Janeiro: a streetcar named Desire
The bright lights of Rio make it feel like you’re living in a permanent fast lane with no drop-off zone in sight, writes Grant Doyle.
Letter from Havana: a Kool new year in Cuba
Cubans are as proud of their national independence as they are of their health and education and social security, writes Aron Koh from Cuba.
Tunisia: Ben Ali, chairman of the (bill)board
In Tunisia, wedged between Algeria and Libya on Africa’s Mediterranean coast, President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali’s heavily Photoshopped image is everywhere, writes Grant Doyle.
Namibia: a first for the born-free generation
The results are finally out for last week’s national elections in Namibia, with the South West African People’s Organisation retaining its majority in the National Assembly and the Presidency, writes Robert Johnson from Windhoek.
Dubai: the march towards conservatism
Amongst expatriates in Dubai, the gossip mill grinds on with reports that Abu Dhabi is putting the pressure on the government to become more conservative as it helps bail it out.
The Cannabis Cup, Amsterdam
The Cannabis Cup is the Tour de France for pot heads from around the world. For US$199, stoners can buy a pass entitling them to sample the green stuff from nearly 30 participating “coffee shops” all this week, writes Grant Doyle from Amsterdam.
Letter from: Peshawar
“Seconds later, as if in answer to my thoughts, a suicide bomber detonated himself among those we had just passed …” Benjamin Gilmour writes from Peshawar.
Zimbabwe
The one non-political word most likely to cause animated, angry outbursts in Zimbabwe is ZESA. Officially the acronym stands for Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority, more appropriately it is known as Zimbabwe Electricity Sometimes Available.
Fall of the Berlin Wall: the 20th anniversary
The overzealous, over-event-managed celebration of 2009 — with circuitous, one-way routes, logjam entries and cops with machine guns — was a strange ossification of the spontaneity of 1989, writes Ben Gook from Berlin.
Aceh Part II: the only Jew in the village
Jakarta may now control their lives but an independent streak still runs through the veins of the Banda Aceh province, with a growing number of writers, discussions of morality and pirated DVDs.
Aceh: the only Jew in the village
This Indonesian province takes its Islam very seriously. The provincial parliament of Aceh recently passed a criminal bylaw that supported the death penalty, stoning and flogging for homosexual acts and adultery.
Brussels, home of Tintin and the EU
Last weekend, Ireland voted “yes” for the Lisbon Treaty, meaning the European Union will be getting a long-overdue structural overhaul. Grant Doyle was in Brussels for the celebrations.
The Phillippines
The recent history of the Philippines reads like a catalogue of Hollywood blockbuster disaster movies. But locals are so focused on day-to-day survival — getting enough food for tomorrow — that the relative unlikelihood of a tsunami makes it not worth considering, writes resident Wayne Smith.
Amsterdam
Owning a bike in Amsterdam is a right of passage, writes Grant Doyle.
