Stories about Weblog from March, 2008
Tajikistan: Politicized Navruz
Navruz is one of the main celebrations for Tajiks. This time — more than ever — it means end of one of the harshest winter in several decades. People could hardly wait for these warm days that have come with the beginning of spring. Navruz has been celebrated throughout the...
China: Vlogger helped Child Labor back to School
Xu Alun, a vlogger hammering away at a point that "truth is power", exposed a moving story of three child coal haulers in Biji, a small city in the south of China, and with an effective advocacy of QQ groups, the story tended to circulate immediately, arousing great public concern.
India: Tata, Jaguar and Rover.
Earlier today it was announced that Tata Motors of India is acquiring Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motors, which was once one of three automotive giants of Michigan. Tata’s acquisition of these two high-end automobile brands is one of the central topics of conversation in global mainstream media and...
Cuba: Blocking Bloggers
Want to get the Cuban blogosphere talking? Block access to a popular blog. Ever since Cuban authorities did just that to several less-than-supportive Havana-based blogs earlier this week, the blogging diaspora have come out in full support of Cuban bloggers – especially Yoani Sanchez and her popular Generacion Y blog,...
Taiwan: Religious buildings–a way to explore how cultures mix
The popular image of multi-culturalism as a mosaic, a salad bowl in which different cultures mix but keep their integrity, is misleading. Cultures are more like soups, flavored with many ingredients, some identifiable. –From the book ‘Cultures and societies in a changing world,’ written by Wendy Griswold. Taiwan has a...
Malawi: Blogging about marriage, language, lifestyle and health
The Malawian blogging community is gradually growing in terms of size and topics. In this roundup, I introduce four blogs dedicated to marriage and children issues, Tumbuka language, health and lifestyle issues.
South Africa: We'll argue with our parents and play video games!
Earlier this week, President Thabo Mbeki proposed that an oath be recited by school children every day in a nation-building effort. Breaking News says that the Opposition Democratic Alliance Leader, Jack Bloom, had welcomed the effort. However, South African bloggers have another idea entirely.
26th March – Bangladesh celebrates the Declaration of Independence
As Bangladesh celebrates its Independence Day on 26th March, the Bangla blogosphere is inundated with posts reliving the horrific Operation Searchlight that was launched by the Pakistan Army on 25th March 1971, in a desperate attempt to stamp out the Bengali Nationalist movement. Abul Bahar brings to life that fateful...
Ecuador: The Aftermath of the Border Crisis
On the outside, it appeared as if the governments of Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela reached an agreement over the border conflict that took place earlier this month. However, tensions continue to be high and diplomatic relations have not returned to normal, especially after a photograph was published in a Colombian newspaper claiming that the Ecuadorian defense minister met with the fallen FARC leader Raúl Reyes. However, it was revealed the man in the photograph was not the government official as indicated causing more tension, and bloggers from Ecuador write about this mistake.
Argentina: Web Entrepreneurs in Palermo Valley
Web 2.0 entrepreneurs from Argentina gathered in a new Buenos Aires neighborhood called "Palermo Valley." The interest in these gatherings demonstrate that there are many projects in development, as well as many others who want to learn what it takes. These get-togethers attracted attendees who heard about the event through blogs and twitter messages, and also motivated others in Costa Rica and Chile to put on their own events for local entrepreneurs.
Arabeyes: Bloggers Indifferent to Magdi Allam's Conversion to Catholicism
During Easter weekend, Pope Benedict XVI baptized several adults into Catholicism. Among them was Magdi Allam, an Egyptian-born Muslim who has lived in Italy for more than half his life and is known as a critic of Islamic extremism.
Taiwan: Support for Tibet
For Tibetan independence movement, most Taiwanese support and sympathize Tibetans, and many people changed their twitter profile figure to the flag of Tibet which represents Tibetan independence movement. ‘Free Tibet’ (Photo courtesy of skydaughter.) Many artists, writers, musicians, and social movement participants held ‘Bringing love to Tibet’ to pray for...
March Madness in Kuwait
Just as there is March Madness in the US, the phenomena seems to have spread to Kuwait - not for basketball but elections. Abdullatif Al Omar brings us the Kuwaiti bloggers reactions to the resignation of their government, the dissolving of Parliament and the looming elections in June.
Taiwan: Racial Commercials Everywhere
On Taiwan's TV screens there is a commercial about drawing lots of cars. In this commercial, a woman with south-east Asia look is driving a car, and the subtitle says:”How can she own a car?” Is this a question? How cannot a south-east Asia woman own a car in Taiwan?...
World Water Day Ripples Across Videos.
Every year since the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, on March 22nd has been the World Water Day. In addition, this year it is the United Nation´s International Year of Sanitation and people from all over have started taking action through their video cameras, raising awareness at the importance of this finite resource.
Tunisia: relentless campaign against imprisoned blogger and journalist Slim Boukhdhir
In the last few weeks, Slim Boukhdhir, the 39-year old imprisoned blogger and journalist, is reported to have been subjected to an unusual level of harassment by prison authorities where he is serving the one-year sentence imposed by a Tunisian court on December 4th, 2007. His wife, Dalenda Boukhdhir, told Global Voices that the prison authorities placed Slim in “dry cell” for three days, from 20-23 March, 2008, turning off the water in his cell so he couldn't wash.
Japan: The New Era of Video
Last Friday, Japan's national broadcaster aired a special on the "New Era of Video" predicting changes in the industry of broadcast television that will shake the foundation of mass media. But why would a broadcaster as big as NHK air a TV special about the end of TV? Wouldn't that be against its own interests? Blogger Kobayashi Akihito asked if there wasn't more to the NHK special than meets the eye.
China: Bloggers declare war on Western media's Tibet coverage
Once the news of Tibetans slicing children's ears off and burning people alive sunk in, Chinese netizens worldwide seized onto initial misreported details from the situation in Tibet and don't seem willing to let this one go. In fact, they've declared cyberwar on major western media outlets, and anti-CNN.com is campaign headquarters.
Paraguay: Candidates Using Blogs to Reach Voters
Paraguay’s Presidential elections will be held on April 20, 2008. Many of the top presidential candidates, such as Fernando Lugo and Blanca Ovelar are using blogs as a way to communicate with potential voters. The blogs are published in one of Paraguay’s mains newspapers called Diario ABC.
Some additions to the Global Voices home page
Over the course of the four-plus years the project has been in existence, Global Voices has grown into much more than the summaries of global blog commentary which take up most of the space on our home page. In case you haven't already noticed, we recently made a few changes to the Global Voices home page which give greater prominence and allow easier access to the various components of the project.
Blogger of the Week: Abdulrahman Warsame
Today's Blogger of the Week series features yet another global voice - Abdulrahman Warsame, who amplifies the reactions of Somali bloggers on Global Voices Online. A Somali born in Saudi Arabia, educated in Egypt and Australia, and currently working for Al Jazeera in Doha, Qatar, as a Senior Analyst in New Media, Warsame shares his thoughts on blogging in his country and the rest of the Arab world.
