Stories about Feature from September, 2008
Yemen: Sixteen People Killed in US Embassy Attack
Sixteen people were killed when the US Embassy in Sana'a, Yemen, was attacked with a car bomb and rockets today. One blogger was minutes away from the explosions.
Young Egyptian Women Do Not Want to Work!
While some women are still struggling to prove themselves in the workplace, the young generation of Egyptian men and women seems to be taking different route. Marwa Rakha brings us the story of how young Egyptians told a television show that they did not want their wives to work.
China: Crisis on “Made in China”
The anger on the poisonous milk powder incident continues to roar everyday. Apart from Sanlu, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China released last night (Sept 16) that one fifth of baby powder manufacturers in the country are involved in the melamine scandal. 22 dairy enterprises, including national brands like Yili and Meng Niu are involved in manufacturing poisonous milk powder. Up till now, at least 6,244 babies got sick with kidney stone disease.
South African Cartoonist Takes on ANC President
ANC President, Jacob Zuma, was recently back in the headlines as his trial on charges for corruption, amongst other things, was thrown out of court to the dismay of many South Africans but also to the cheer of his millions of supporters, particularly from parties allied to the ANC. Parallel to this, Jonathan Shapiro a.k.a. Zapiro, South Africa's foremost political cartoonist had Zuma in his sights as he published a controversial cartoon in the Sunday Times.
China: Infant-killer milk powder sickens the country
Is food in China edible? Chinese people started to ask. The tainted infant formula has not only killed 2 babies, triggered panic among parents, but also gave a solid hit on made-in-China. The biggest problem is, we came to lose trust on all that we can eat.
Africa: Citizen Journalism, Journalism for Citizens
Last week, 700 journalists, bloggers, researchers, students and policymakers from more than 40 African countries took part in three days of discussions, debates and training at the 12th edition of Highway Africa conference in Grahamstown, South Africa. Highway Africa is the largest annual gathering of journalists and other media practitioners on the continent. This year's themes was Citizen Journalism, Journalism for Citizens.
Montenegro: The .ME Domain Release
Montenegro received quite a windfall in being assigned .ME for a country domain extension. In auctioning off the available names, they've managed to raise a great deal of money in a short time, but few Montenegrins actual own these new names.
Bolivia: Government Declares Martial Law in Pando
Bolivia continues to face social unrest, as anti-government crowds occupied government institutions in the city of Santa Cruz, and other clashes with pro-government supporters in the regions of Pando left 15 dead. As a result, the government placed a state of emergency in that department. Other bloggers recount their experiences during the tense past few days.
Brazil: Justice aims at Twitter and hits innocent bloggers
If the Brazilian Electoral Justice is not quite sure about what the Internet is, their latest blunder proves that Twitter is completely alien to them. When trying to take down a fake mayoral candidate's profile on the popular network, they managed to take offline a blog that had nothing to do with the story. Mind you: They could have taken down the whole Twitter website instead.
Japan: Street View's Missing Streets
The launch early last month of Google's Street View service in major Japanese cities brought with it considerable controversy and debate among Internet users. While that debate has since quieted down, another discussion has emerged in its wake, centered on a curious property of the new service that, as of yet, remains unexplained by the company that created it.
China: 2008 Internet Buzz Words Video
My mother doesn't know how to go online She looks very busy everyday She says the internet is no good Everything inside is very yellow and very violent Oh mama, who tells you so? Oh mama, what you say thunder-shocks me Oh mama, let your son tell you I go online to buy sauce (majority onlookers)
Colombia: people falling prey to pyramid schemes
On blogs, through videos and on facebook, Colombian Diego Alejandro is exposing the deceit and scams behind pyramid schemes that masquerade as investment options. In a country where it doesn't make sense to have a savings account because the handling fees are higher than the interest gained from the savings, these get rich quick plans where citizens can pay to participate and then invite 7 other friends to enroll before they can enjoy sky high interest (between 40 and 70%) on their savings seem like a great deal.
Caribbean: Ike Strikes
The 2008 Atlantic Hurricane Season is not letting up. Beleaguered Caribbean islands like Cuba and Haiti barely had time to recover from the ravages of Hurricanes Gustav and Hanna when Mother Nature struck once again, this time in the form of Ike. Tensions were high with bloggers Caribbean-wide.
Morocco: Understanding Mohammed Raji's Sentence
Less than a year ago, Global Voices noted Morocco as the “liveliest free speech zone in Muslim North Africa.” And yet, journalists are all too frequently fined or arrested, and yesterday a blogger, Mohammed Raji, joined their ranks. The blogger was arrested yesterday afternoon for insulting the king, and was immediately tried and sentenced to two years in prison and a fine of MAD 5,000 (about $625). The Moroccan blogosphere, lively as ever, has rallied around Raji.
Morocco: Blogger Arrested, Sentenced Immediately
This morning, it was reported by the electronic news site Hespress [ar] that blogger Mohammed Raji was arrested in his home in Agadir. An article that Raji had posted on...
Egypt: Rocks Slide over Slums in Cairo
Egypt woke up on breaking news that “Casualties & injuries in rock blocks collapse over slums of Doweiqa, Cairo” on a Twitter update by Egyptian blogger Noura Yunis on Saturday. A massive rocky body fell from the Mokhatam Mountain, crashing down few apartments just below it, at around 7am, killing at least 30 people. Egyptian blogger react.
Congolese bloggers on the American elections
Congolese bloggers Musengeshi Katata and Shaka Bantou have been closely following the American Democratic and Republican conventions at Forum Realisance. Both are staunch supporters of Obama and sharp critics of the Republican Party. Like many around the world, bloggers in Congo and across Africa have been following this American election with the belief that its outcome is incredibly important not only for America, but for the world.
Armenia: Football Diplomacy & Relations with Turkey
A number of World Cup qualifying matches were played worldwide on Saturday, but many were interested in what might instead prove to be a historic political rather than sporting event. Without diplomatic relations or an open border, Armenia played against Turkey in its capital, Yerevan. Despite historical grievances, Turkish President Abdullah Gul arrived to watch the match with his Armenian counterpart in what many referred to as “football diplomacy.”
Saudi Arabians and their cars
Extreme car customizing, dangerous drift racing and incomprehensively dangerous stunts on the highways straight from Saudi Arabia.
Angola: Elections in pictures
Angolans are at the polls for the first time in 16 years - the election is still taking place this Saturday at 320 polling stations in the capital Luanda. So far, no incidents have been reported, and public spirit has prevailed, as observed by photographer José Manuel Lima da Silva.
Palestine: The siege of Gaza was broken – and then?
On August 23, two boats carrying international activists broke the siege of Gaza by landing in Gaza's harbour. The boats have since left again, leaving some of the activists behind, and taking some Palestinians with them back to Cyprus. However the activists plan to return to Gaza on September 22 - amongst other things, delivering mail to the Palestinians. In this post, we look at some Gazan reactions to the breaking of the siege, as well as accounts by the activists.
