Stories from 15 March 2007
India: On street dogs
My Life on the culling of street dogs in Bangalore and how the dogs better treatment. “Once when I was returning home from Bangalore Central to my home near the airport by bus, I had to walk around a kilometer at 11pm. The streets were deserted and there were a...
South Asia: Inter Immigrant Solidarity
Sepia Mutiny on inter-immigrant solidarity in the US. “There are many layers of solidarity here: Islam, immigration, and a lot of professional overlap, particularly in the taxi and livery cab sector. Choudhury told me that Islam teaches that whenever there is tragedy in the community, anyone who is in a...
Bangladesh: On the future
Unheard Voices on the hope felt for the future of the country when in Dhaka. “You give the people of Bangladesh some opportunity to prove themselves, some financial backing, a roof to work under; they will bring about great things, they will make impossible things look very easy.”
Sri Lanka: Rise of peace professionals
groundviews on the rise of peace professionals in Sri Lanka. “At the initial phase that began in the late 1970s and ended in the late 1980s or the early 1990s, many peace activities were supported by the trade unions and the church (through the church some foreign assistance was given)....
Sri Lanka: Cricket!
A Voice in Colombo develops cricket fever! “Now the wait is over for the Sri Lankan cricket fans, and we are playing our first match of the tournament today.”
Egypt: French Demonstrate to Free Kareem
Bloggers and free speech activists living in Paris, France, turned out en mass to demonstrate against the imprisonment of Egyptian blogger Kareem Nabeel Sulaiman opposite the Egyptian stand at the World Tourism Trade Fair.
Guinea: the future of Friends of Guinea
Following the recent political turmoil in Guines, what will the future of Friends of Guinea be? “As mentioned in an earlier statement, FOG is not going anywhere. While we all hope for the Peace Corps’ re-insertion into Guinea as soon as is practicable and safe, FOG will remain active organization...
Egypt: Protestors and Bloggers Arrested
More than 20 demonstrators, including two bloggers, have just been arrested for taking part in a demonstration protesting against amendments to the constitution in Cairo, according to Egyptian blogger Ala'a Abdulfattah.
China: Neighbors talking on the Net
Things are looking slightly better for China's property owners, but the right to vote has yet to reach the cities. Over the past few years property owners have done their best to pick up the slack, but sometimes have to resort to violence to get their needs met. Do Chinese...
Egypt: Jailed Egyptian Blogger Kareem Wins Award
Jailed Egyptian blogger Kareem Nabeel Sulaiman has won the 2007 Hugo Young Award for Journalism at the 7th Annual Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards Ceremony, according to Free Kareem, a website dedicated to his freedom.
Arabisc: Egypt – The Home of Thousands of Political Prisoners
Egyptian blogger Ala'a Abdulfatah claims that there are thousands of political prisoners in his country, who are behind bars without trial. مصر فيها ألاف المعتقلين السياسيين، محدش يعرف عددهم بالظبط لكن عارفين كويس مدى الظلم الواقع عليهم و البهدلة اللي بتحصلهم، من أول معتقلي الجهاد للي محبوسين من الثمانينات لمعتقلي...
Brazil: Hip Hop and Education
On a program by Brazil's Ministry of Culture to use hip hop as a way to keep kids in school, Made in Brazil writes: “I had not read about the program before even though it was conceived by minister of Culture Gilberto Gil in 2003, but I highly agree that...
Costa Rica: Tico Tarzan video
Uri Ridelman shares a video of Gilberto Shedden Graham, better known in Costa Rica as “Tico Tarzan”, and his domesticated crocodile, Pocho.
Bolivia, Haiti: Debate Over “Blue Helmets”
Federico Fuentes of Bolivia Rising translates an article by Pablo Stefanoni about a debate over the presence and conduct of Bolivian UN troops in Haiti and the Congo.
Argentina: Subterranean Surfing
Pasa en Buenos Aires, the official weblogs of Buenos Aires, says that metro lines B, C, D, and E will have free Wi-Fi access [ES].
Panama: Carnival- Day 1
As promised, Rob Rivera has published a detailed first day account of his carnival adventure. “February is a very contradicting month: not only do you have the annual opportunity given to you by Hallmark to tell the person you love that you do (and if you didn’t then oh noes!)...
Panama: HSBC Sues Customer for Yahoo Postings
#1: From Panama's Noriegaville News: Uproar among expats about HSBC Panama SLAPP suit If the intention was to silence criticism of its service, the attempt has already miserably failed. A storm of protest and foreigners closing their accounts has so far been the result of a lawsuit HSBC Panama has...
Eastern & Central Europe: Post-War Ethnic Cleansing of Germans
“During 1945 and 1946 some 14 million Germans from Central Europe and the Balkans permanently lost their traditional homelands due to a ruthless campaign of ethnic cleansing,” writes J. Otto Pohl in a post about this neglected post-war crime.
Russia: Like A Spy Novel
Edward Lucas posts “another unpublished and polemical draft piece on what may be a systematic Kremlin campaign of murder and intimidation–but of course may just be groundless paranoia.”
Arabisc: Sorting Through Arabic Blogs
With thousands of posts on blogs written in Arabic daily, do you realise how difficult it is to pick a handful for translation for Global Voices Online twice a week? Moroccan blogger Mohammed Saeed Hjiouij seems to be suffering from the same problem. He is at a loss on which...
Egypt: List of Threatened Sites
Blogger Tim Seah lists the URLs of the blogs and websites being threatened with closure in Egypt here. “Since a court has yet to rule on whether these are libelous, archiving them in Egypt may be risky. So people outside of Egypt who might be interested in hosting mirrors, here...