Stories from 12 February 2008
Bolivia: Former Fulbright Scholar Provides Thoughts on Embassy Controversy
Miguel Centellas of Pronto*, a former Fulbright Scholar in Bolivia, provides his reflections on the recent controversy involving a Fulbright Scholar and a US Embassy official, who asked the students to report on any Cuban or Venezuelan operating in the country and “that it was perhaps irresponsible for the scholar...
Mexico: Extra Pay for Weight Loss
Vivir Latino writes about a new Aguascalientes, Mexico campaign offering extra pay for police officers that lose weight so that they can be more effective in foot chases. The police department is encouraging less of the three “T's”, tamales, tacos and tortas.
Kazakhstan: Viva Astana!
Adam Kesher reveals the plan of the authorities concerning celebrations and festivities dedicated to the 10-year anniversary of the Kazakhstan’s capital city Astana against the background of economic difficulties experienced by the country.
Turkmenistan: Coming Out of Turkmenbashi’s Shadow
Maciula writes about President Berdymukhammedov’s plans to built huge Constitution Monument in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, and suggests that his aim is to come out of Turkmenbashi’s shadow.
Kazakhstan: Famed DJ Killed in Almaty
Lena B-va reports the shocking story of brutal murder of the Almaty’s popular DJ and one of the most charismatic representatives of clubbing culture of the Kazakhstan’s southern capital.
Afghanistan: Illegal to Speak Farsi in a Farsi Spoken City
Mohammad writes that the Minister of Culture and Youth affairs, fired a reporter and sued two other staff from Balkh TV for using pure Persian words while broadcasting the news.
Turkey: Meeting Ethan Zuckerman and Other Geeky People
Turkish blogger Erkan writes about meeting GV co-founder Ethan Zuckerman and many other “cool and geeky” people at a two-day conference in Istanbul.
China: Shaking Hands With Premier Wen
Zoula re-posted a citizen report from GuangXi which had been harmonized by major internet forums. The Citizen reporter was called upon by city leaders to perform in post office on disaster relief work and he managed to shake hands with premier Wen Jiabao (zh).
Hong Kong: A Most Chaotic Press Conference
Bikiniinpink posted a short video clip showing the chaotic scene of the press conference (zh) in which Gillian Chung gave her first public response to the sex photo scandal.
Uruguay: File Sharing Site Raises Questions
What started as a photo sharing site is now a site attracting thousands of visitors hoping to download mp3 files from Uruguayan musical artists. In an interview, one of the founders of the site Uruguay Photos talks about some of the controversy over hosting music files and his interaction with the artists, most of whom fully support the site as a way to reach more people. The interview was conducted by Martin Balao and is translated for Global Voices.
