· January, 2007

Stories about Weblog from January, 2007

CAFTA and WiMax in Costa Rica

  31 January 2007

Three articles stand out this week: The first describes events that are a glimpse of what we will see once the CAFTA discussions begin, the second denounces the newspapers for failing to report accurately on these same events, and the third stumbles upon a discovery of virtual private network (VPN)...

Bolivian Bloggers Give Their Verdict

  31 January 2007

This time last year, Bolivia and the rest of the world was buzzing about the inauguration of President Evo Morales and the novelty of it all. With approval ratings at sky-high levels, many wondered and were hopeful about the upcoming year. Would he follow through with all of his campaign...

Kurdistance: The Kirkuk Referendum

  31 January 2007

While the Kirkuk Referendum isn't expected to take place until December 2007, it is creating waves within Kurdistan, Iraq and their neighbors. Why the flurry of activity now? The Iraq Study Report recommended that the referendum be delayed, citing the the area as a “powderkeg”. The Republic of Turkey wants...

Nepal: Madhesh Is Burning

  31 January 2007

Madhesh is the southern plains of Nepal where half of the country lives. Madhesi are the people of Nepal, roughly half of the country. The Madhesi have been discriminated against for centuries. Now they are in a revolt that feels like the second part of the world shaking April Revolution....

China: Out of Libya

  31 January 2007

It‘s [zh] since been disabled, but there was one especially eye-catching post on Tianya, one of China's most widely-read bbs forum sites last month. ‘Save us!’ it read. ‘We've been stuck in Libya for over a year and we're about to go crazy here!’ Racist attitude, seen further down, might...

Peru: Racism at the Beach

  31 January 2007

They say that to work is no offence, that there is no job that one should be ashamed of. It sounds logical, but not everyone seems to think that way. Many Peruvians, some think too many, leave their motherland to look for a better job opportunity abroad, where they often...

Swahili Blogosphere: CIA's Role in the Zanzibar Revolution, Bloggers Association, The Wretched of the Earth, and Protesting UK's $12M Secret Payment

  30 January 2007

Following their virtual conference last November, Tanzanian bloggers are currently discussing the details of the organization they are intending to form. A blog has been set up by the interim committe, to facilitate the process. So far, they have chosen the name for the organization, Jumuiya ya Wanablogu Tanzania (the...

Maldives struggles with Chikungunya

  30 January 2007

Chikungunya, a viral fever accompanied with joint pains, is spreading throughout the Maldives. The disease was first noticed in the country in late 2006 and so far it has not been controlled. Maldives Today accuses the government of reacting slowly to this outbreak and not taking appropriate measures to combat...

Arabisc: Egyptian Bloggers Tie the Knot

  29 January 2007

Like in Egyptian movies, there is a thin line between imagination and reality in Egypt, where two politically active bloggers get close to each other at an anti-government rally, then fall in love and finally get married. Blogger Albara Ashraf reports this happy story, without failing to conjure some of...

French Caribbean DOMs: Welcoming Vaval, King of Carnival

  29 January 2007

Mas a kle, a Guadeloupe mas bandUploaded by Akynou No sooner were the 2006 holidays over that Martiniquans, Guadeloupeans and Guianese were kicking off the prelude to “Vaval”, their affectionate nickname for carnival which will take place in February, in a three-day celebration peaking on “Mardi Gras”, the “fat tuesday”...

Cuba: Praying for Fidel

  29 January 2007

It's unlikely that Cuban president Fidel Castro will be any less of a polarising figure in death than he's been over the course of his long and colourful political career. Since the announcement of his illness and the passing of power to his brother Raúl at the end of July...

Libya: To Return or not to Return?

  29 January 2007

The last weeks saw a variety of activities on Libyan blogs. It was the ‘end of term’ exams in Libyan schools and Khadijateri has devoted several posts to that. On the other hand, a hot topic was introduced by Nura on Ly-Hub. Ly-Hub is a blog connecting Libyan bloggers or...

Crime and Punishment in Kazakhstan

  29 January 2007

Blogger's Trial Kazis Toguzbayev, a journalist who uploaded his articles on KUB, a group blog, was tried in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on 22 January. In his article, Toguzbayev implied that the President was covering the murders of the opposition figures. He got a two-year suspended sentence for violating the Criminal Code...

A Week Goes by in Kuwait

  27 January 2007

A couple of Kuwaitis have just participated in Gulfrun, an event which Kthekuwaiti attended, and which he described as: ” GulfRun is a yearly ‘rally’ that starts off in Kuwait with the cars going to Bahrain and back for the weekend (think mini-Gumball). The F1 circuit has been reserved for...

Chavez Plans to Revoke Station's Broadcast License in Venezuela

  26 January 2007

Los Amigos Invisibles con Patricia [at RCTV] by Alfredo Izaguirre F. Hugo Chavez, shortly after his re-election in December for a term of 6 more years of governance, announced that the license of a television channel, whose editorial line tends toward opposition, will not be renewed. Channel RCTV, with 52...

Brazil Again: Blogs Banished from 2007 PanAm Games in Rio

  26 January 2007

The Brazilian blogosphere is becoming one of the main fronts in the battle against Internet censorship. The reason for that can be the growing audience created by the amount of time local internauts devote to web surfing, which was once again rated as the highest in the world. But it...

Russia: Roma Wedding and Christmas

  26 January 2007

The flag of the Roma people. According to Wikipedia, it “was approved at the First World Romani Congress in 1971, held in London, UK. The flag consists of a background of dark blue and green, representing the heavens and earth, respectively. The flag also contains a red chakra, or spoked...

The Global Voices iTunes podcast feed — alive again!

  26 January 2007

Many, many apologies to those of you who attempted to access the iTunes MP3 feed for the Global Voices podcasts through this page and found the latest edition of The Global Voices Show absent without leave. Thanks to the interventions of deputy geek Jeremy Clarke, however, the iTunes feed is...