Stories from March, 2008
Angola: Rescuing videos on the YouTube
YouTube users Wylalas, benguibros and tucab74 have posted videos showing the aftermath of the collapse of the National Criminal Investigation Department (DNIC) building this weekend and the rescuing efforts in the Angolan capital Luanda. It is believed that at least 30 detainees, among them 10 women, remained trapped in the...
Lebanon: On censorship
Beirut Spring posts about “good censorship” versus “bad censorship” and on the difference between censoring the Da Vinci Code and censoring Persepolis in Lebanon.
Lebanon: Genetic origins of Lebanese
A genetic study on Lebanese origins reveals chromosomes left by Phoenicians, Crusaders and Arabs, reports finkployd in detail.
Lebanon: Un-Banning “Persepolis”
“French Minister welcomed the news that Lebanon decided to reverse the ban on “Persepolis,” the award-winning animated film …” reports Bilad Ash Sham.
Lebanon: Banning “Persepolis”
“Marjane Satrapi’s ‘Persepolis’ [the movie] is the latest victim of our very “intellectual” General Security Censorship Department,” writes Bachir Habib
Israel: Yafo Residents Protest Corporate Greed
Yudit of Occupied writes about Land Day in Yafo (Jaffa), Israel: “Over one thousand people marched in Jaffa, against the ethnic cleansing carried out by big money in close cooperation with the public housing companies and the municipality… Jaffa's people, women, men and children, marched together for the future of...
Israel: Israeli Vietnamese Poet is Rising Star
“Vaan Nguyen, the 26-year-old, Israeli-born daughter of Vietnamese refugees… is being hailed as one of the country's provocative and innovative young poets,” Dion Nissenbaum reports.
Israel: New Technology Will Improve Organ Transplants
Israeli biotech company Core Dynamics may have found a way to improve organ transplants. A new technique in cyropreservation will change the way organs are frozen and thawed, enhancing their viability until time of transplant. Israel Start-Up News has the details.
Armenia: Sevan Museum
Robert Dietrich posts photographs of some of the treasures he recently discovered at a small museum outside of the capital. The Peace Corps Volunteer says he was overwhelmed by the amount of items dating back thousands of years and in urgent need of being displayed properly.
Armenia: The Little Prince
The Armenian Patchwork posts photographs of preparations and a performance of The Little Prince in the Armenian capital, Yerevan. The blog seems impressed with the organization of the play for children.
Georgia: Opposition Ends Hunger Strike
TOL Georgia comments on news that the opposition has called off its hunger strike after a second intervention from the Georgian patriarch. With no concessions forthcoming from the government, the blog wonders where the current political situation in Georgia leaves the opposition ahead of the May parliamentary vote.
Jorge Gobbi: Travel Blogs and Experiences From the Road
The grand city of Buenos Aires, Argentina is a favorite destination for many tourists. It is also the home of Global Voices' author for Argentina, Jorge Gobbi, who has been able to combine his love for traveling with blogging about the subject, both personally and professionally. In continuation of the series of Global Voices Online author profiles, Jorge also describes some of his favorite, as well as most unusual experiences while on the road.
Zimbabwe: Harare is tense after Tsvangirai claims victory
Following the presidential and parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe yesterday, bloggers are reporting that the situation in Harare is tense, in Bulawayo MDC supporters are celebrating (MDC candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, has claimed victory) and all over the country there are rumours that Robert Mugabe has left the country for Mozambique.
Armenia: Opposition Protests Continue
Despite amendments to the law on public marches, rallies and demonstrations following the recently lifted state of emergency, the opposition continues to hold meetings on the streets of the Armenian capital. In order to circumvent the restrictions, the gatherings are held under the guise of playing chess, reading books or even eating fast food in public.
Lebanon: Facebook Suicide
SLH shares this letter that he sent to his “facebook friends” explaining the reasons behind his decision to leave Facebook forever and to “rejoin real world interaction”.
Brazil: Blogs banned from the 2008 elections
Brazil is warming up for local elections later this year, but the Supreme Electoral Court has just passed regulations that have raised eye-brows throughout the blogosphere: only candidates' purpose-built web pages will be allowed. Blogs and 'social web' facilities have not been subjected to a more comprehensive legislation and as a result these are now left in limbo. Will the netizen be silenced?
Korea: Roh Moo Hyun Syndrome
The popularity of the previous President, Roh Moo Hyun, in Korea seems to become a hotter issue on the Internet. A new terminology, Roh-Ganji (Roh, his family name + Ganji, a slang that teenagers and netizens like to use and its meaning is ‘cool’) is born. His hometown is full...
Belarus: Freedom Day Protest
On Tuesday, March 25, police broke up an opposition rally in the capital of Belarus, beating protesters with truncheons and detaining dozens of people. Veronica Khokhlova translates two bloggers' first-hand accounts and a foreign political analyst's view on the Belarusian opposition's strategy.
Mexico: Water News
Noticias del Agua [es] is a blog that links to various news articles related to the use and conservation of water, especially in Mexico.
Peru: Two Earthquakes Shake Lima
Juan Arellano of Globalizado [es] reports on this morning's earthquakes in Lima and provides links to what bloggers and users of twitters have been saying.
Iran:”Defending animal rights =Westernization”
Mojgan Jamshidi, an environmentalist journalist and a leading blogger says[Fa] in Iran some believe defending animal rights is a kind of westernization. The blogger writes even reformist deputies while dominating Iranian parliament, considered animal rights is not a topic deserve to be discussed. She also published a photo of a...
