Stories from 23 March 2008
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.
Czech Republic, Slovakia: Whipping Girls and Other Easter Traditions
Easter is a very important celebration both in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, called Velikonoce - from Veliké noci or Great Nights. Although the religious connotations of Easter were suppressed under the communist regime, nowadays Czechs and Slovaks are again aware of the strong Christian background of Easter, although they regard it as mostly fun times. Many traditions are still observed, especially in villages. Several bloggers have been describing some of them.
Armenia: Independent Media Concerns
The Armenian Observer reports on an arson attack on a car belonging to the president of a media association in the second largest city of Gyumri. The attack is seen as being linked to the Asbarez Club's attempts to defend a pro-opposition local TV station which is currently under pressure...
Georgia: Independent Media Concerns
TOL Georgia details the continuing saga of Imedi TV, a station critical of the authorities which was closed down during the recent state of emergency in the country. The blog says that the station remains closed and ownership has been transferred to a U.S. citizen of Georgian descent. The opposition...
Georgia: Hunger Strike Continues
TOL Georgia reports that a hunger strike by the opposition in Georgia continues with several people now in a critical condition. The blog examines the background to the current standoff between the authorities and the opposition in the immediate aftermath of the January presidential election and just before the May...
Armenia: State of Emergency Ended, Protests Continue
The Armenian Patchwork posts some excellent photographs of a silent demonstration staged to mourn the eight people killed during the recent 1 March riots in Yerevan now that the state of emergency in the country has officially ended. My Armenia Election Monitor 2008 also has photographs and a report of...
Armenia: Police Violence
Blogian comments on concerns raised in some quarters that a video allegedly showing soldiers firing directly at protesters during a post-election riot on 1 March has been edited inappropriately giving grounds to question its authenticity. However, the blog says, the fact that seven protesters and one policeman died during the...
Liquid assets: Bloggers on World Water Day
It's known as the universal solvent, Adam's Ale, government juice, council pop, H2O, dihydrogen monoxide, hydrogen hydroxide, has a ton of different names in Arabic and yesterday (March 22) the world was called upon to pay it special attention. World Water Day 2008 marked the start of the fourth year of the UN International Decade for Action on Water that began in 2005, and to mark the occasion the bloggers weighed in with insights and commentary from various corners of the world.
Brazil: Politicians own the media
“271. This is the number of Brazilians politicians that are partners, owners or directors of radio and TV broadcasters, which is against the law. Harassment of politicians on the media is much greater if we take into consideration the printed press”, comments Rogério Christofoletti [pt] on a recent research by...
Lebanon: Easter Morning
Diamond in Sunlight shares with us her Easter Morning in Beirut.
Lebanon: On Affiliation
Tantalus shares his sarcasm about the “Lebanese tradition of affiliating with anything but [their] country…”
Dismissal of Brazilian Blogger: Censorship or Just Business?
The abrupt dimissal of the journalist Paulo Henrique Amorim — or PHA as he is referred too — from his anchor-like position at the IG portal has fueled this week's blogs debate. The humorous and opinionated style used by PHA in his ‘Conversa Afiada‘ blog to attack what he called...
Brazil: Here comes the PIG
PIG is an acronym for Coupist Press Party [in Portuguese Partido da Imprensa Golpista] which has been coined to describe the Brazilian media that serves to a political interest, that is biased and rely on censorship. The latest victim of PIG, according to some bloggers, is the journalist Tutty Vazquez,...
Brazil: Blogs Blog this!
Wagner [pt] recommends a new “joined ownership” blogging platform for blogs in Portuguese. “BlogueIsso! Blogs is a “condominium” of blogs, a network currently made up by 18 of them, covering various subjects in many different styles and points of view of the world”.
Brazil: Enjoy the sea but look after the planet
“Right now in this Hallelujah Saturday, thousands of people are on the country's seasides enjoying the wonders that the sea provides, without worrying about the waste they produce, about the type of stuff they consume in the beaches (disposable glasses, plastic and polystyrene packaging), about the waste of drinking water,...
Brazil: The end of the Burning of Judas
Once one of the most popular Easter-time rituals in Brazil, the ‘Burning of Judas‘ is disappearing from the streets of Rio de Janeiro, as noticed Jorge Alberto [pt].
Maldives: Living with contaminated groundwater
As the world observed World Water Day on March 22, issues concerning sanitation and access to safe water were discussed and debated in the media. This year’s theme for WWD is sanitation as 2008 is the International Year of Sanitation. Maldivian bloggers have brought water and sanitation issues to the...
Russia: Two Dagestani Journalists Killed
Ilyas Shurpaev, a Dagestani TV journalist who worked for a state-owned federal channel, was found dead Friday in Moscow. Later that day, Gadzhi Abashilov, director of Dagestan's state-owned broadcasting company, was shot to death in Makhachkala, the republic's capital. Below are a few bloggers' reactions to the murders, as well as the translation of Shurpaev's last blog post.
