Stories about Feature from March, 2010
Russia: High Taxi Fares And Text Messaging Scams After Moscow Bombings
The aftermath of the recent subway bombings in Moscow is widespread. People mourn victims, looks for answers to numerous questions, contemplate the future of Russia and express anger with... taxi drivers and text message scammers who seem to take advantage of the tragedy.
Chile: The Process of Earthquake Reconstruction
Exactly a month after the devastating earthquake in Chile, President Sebastián Piñera announced a reconstruction plan for the country’s infrastructure and housing, prompting Chileans to provide opinions about how this process should be implemented and monitored.
Arab World: Earth Hour Marked Across the Region
Earth Hour is an annual event celebrated on the last Saturday in March. Awareness of Earth Hour has been spreading throughout the world since its inception in Australia in 2007. In this post, Katharine Ganly takes a look at some of the initiatives celebrating Earth Hour in the Arab World.
Russia: Initial Coverage of the Moscow Subway Bombings
Moscow's Monday morning routine was broken today by two subway suicide bombings, which killed at least 38 and wounded at least 70 people. Alexey Sidorenko translates some of the initial reports from the Russian blogosphere.
Kazakhstan: Bloggers claim lack of state aid to flood victims
After a mudflow killed dozens of people in the villages south-east of Kazakhstan on March 11, many fear that other dams across the country may cause much harsher disasters in case of bursting.
Chile: New Government Makes Strong Presence on Twitter
Chilean President Sebastián Piñera and his Cabinet are all on Twitter, which captured the attention of Chilean users of social media, but some are skeptical and cautious about how effective the communication will be.
Japan: Long life to bluefin tuna. The experts’ word.
With 68 countries voting against, CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species that regulates the international trade of wild animals and plants, rejected a ban on Atlantic bluefin...
South Africa: The woman who spent 7 months in a male cell
Before she was acquitted of attempted robbery and hijacking in South Africa, Denise Abbah was imprisoned in a male cell for seven months as she waited for her trial. The prison officials mistook...
Russia: Two Video Scandals
In Russia this week it has been hard to miss the two scandals that, at first, appear to have only one thing in common: both are centered around amateur videos published online. Heated discussions in the blogosphere and in other online venues are taking place on quite different orbits - which nevertheless do have one or two overlap points.
Ada Lovelace Day: Celebrating Women in Technology and Transparency Worldwide
In celebration of Ada Lovelace Day we profile several women based around the world who use technology to to make government more transparent and accountable.
Philippines: Post-earthquake reactions on Twitter
A 6.1 intensity earthquake rocked Manila and nearby provinces in the Philippines a few hours ago. Twitterers continue to share their experience and observations.
Africa: Notes From the Field
This is a roundup of blog posts of Concern US aid workers blogging from Sub-Saharan Africa. Concern US aid workers blog regularly about their work and challenges they face as they help to transform lives of people in Malawi, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Ghana: Blogging for World Water Day
World Water Day is a day observed on March 22 since 1993 when the United Nations General Assembly declared March, 22 as World Day for Water. Jemila Wunpini Abdulai, an active member of the Ghana Blogging Group suggested we make the day a Ghana Blogging Universal Day post.
China: Official Nudity
A township government in Sichuan Province is being called “China’s first completely nude government” after township officials issued salary and expenditure information online. The reference to nudity recently found in...
Armenia-Azerbaijan: BBC Azeri Facebook Diary
As part of the BBC Superpower Season, the BBC's Azeri service approached Global Voices Online's Caucasus editor to participate in its own reflection on the power of the Internet. What follows is a version in English
Chile: President Piñera's Unsold Shares in LAN Airlines
Chilean president Sebastián Piñera made a campaign promise to sell all of his shares in LAN Airlines by the time he took office on March 11, 2010, something he has yet to fulfill.
Is Russia an Enemy of Internet?
The degree of freedom on the Russian Internet is an issue for debates. Some put Russia on the same list of "Internet enemies" with China and Iran. Others strongly oppose this kind of generalization and claim that Russian Internet is the most liberal and unrestricted public sphere in the country.
China: Google.cn migrated to Hong Kong
Finally Google has decided to leave China. Soon after the announcement, Google stopped censoring the search result of google.cn by redirecting the site to google.com.hk. In Google's official blog, David...
Venezuela: Concerns About Controls on the Internet
Debate is heating up in Venezuela after decrees and statements from President Hugo Chávez, who questioned how the Internet is being used in the country. Many are interpreting these statements and policy proposals that the government wants control the Internet in Venezuela.
Chile: Changes in Government Websites with Arrival of New Administration
Many Chileans noticed that some government websites no longer contain photos or information from the previous administration, and they are wondering whether it was a deliberate message sent from the administration of new President Sebastián Piñera
Iran: Iranians marked holiday under surveillance
Iranians marked, Charshanbeh Soori, a holiday that leads up to the Persian new year under the watchful eyes of riot police Tuesday night, after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei the Islamic Republic's leader discouraged celebrations.
