Stories from 2 September 2008
Pakistan: About Obama
All Things Pakistan on Obama's connection with Pakistan.
India: Public transport
Punarjanman on the the issue of public transport and a general sense of impatience in Mumbai, India.
Africa: Big Brother Africa III “Updates”
Big Brother Africa III “updates” from Bazanye: “Because I have no TV (ref Crime Rate) I cannot offer updates of Big Brother Africa III. Not unless I make them up, as I shall now proceed to do.”
Tanzania: White Priviledge
Being a “mzungu” (a white person in Swahili) in Tanzania goes with some privileges. Blogger Mara Gordon explains: “Nobody thought twice about me waltzing in here. Because I’m a mzungu and I’m wearing business casual, the guards all smiled and offered me a friendly “Karibu;” nobody asked to see my...
Oman: Forum administrators legally responsible for all content?
Muscati, the administrator of OmanForum, explains his decision to remove an article that may have got him into trouble – and reports that the administrator of another forum is under investigation, possibly for the same matter.
Morocco: Welcoming Ramadan
Ramadan comes but once a year, and Moroccan bloggers are gearing up for the month ahead by sharing recipes, photos, and their thoughts on Morocco's imams spotting the moon a day later than most of the world.
Georgia: Information War
A Second Hand Conjecture comments on the information war currently being waged between Russia and Georgia after the recent conflict over South Ossetia. The blog notes that one site established to put forward the Georgian case online utilizes slick marketing skills absent from the Russian side.
Finnish voice on death of Ingushetian publisher
Istori posts a speech by and publishes a statement about the Ingushetian publisher Magomed Yevloev, who was killed by Russian police in the weekend. Together with Anna Politkovskaya, Yevloev – the publisher of closed-down news site ingushetiya.ru – was a frequent guest at the Finnish-Russian Civic Forum.
Tajikistan: SCO Summit in Dushanbe
Shannon gives updates on the SCO summit in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, and talks about the attitude of SCO member-countries toward Russia’s actions in Georgia.
Kazakhstan: Making Friends with Iran
Michael Hancock reflects on the Kazakhstan's plans to oil/gas partnership and closer economic ties with Iran, and the possible consideration of the Western community's opinions about such cooperation.
Turkmenistan: Keeping Children from Cotton
Nathan reports that Turkmenistan is putting an end to the use of child labor in cotton harvesting, according to the president Berdymuhammedov’s intentions.
Uzbekistan: Former SNB Agent Seeks Asylum
Nathan says that Ikrom Yakubov, a former Uzbekistan National Security Service (SNB) agent, has arrived in London seeking asylum.
Afghanistan: Taliban Sets Schoolbooks on Fire
Azar Balkhi reports that the Taliban militias attacked a convoy of stationary and burned over 80,000 textbooks, which were to be delivered to the secondary schools of the northern Afghanistan.
Iran:Ban on website needs court ruling
According to news sites and blogs, Iranian Judiciary chief Ayatollah Shahroudi said on Sunday that any case of banning a website needs a verdict from the court of justice. He added the websites committing security and immoral acts are exceptions.Taghvimeh Tabid,an Iranian blogger, believes[Fa] this order has not any impact...
China: Collective Punishment
Michael from the Opposite end of China highlights the human rights report about collective punishment practice in parts of Xinjiang.
Japan: More on Fukuda Resignation
Tobias Harris from Observing Japan gives more background information about the sudden resignation of Prime Minister Fukuda.
South Korea: Prostitution Business
Korea Beat translated a local feature article on prostitution business in South Korea.
Panama: Free Blogging Workshops
Dioni of Blogueando [es] invites everyone for the workshop “Bloguea Panama,” which is a three and a half hour free workshop for those wanting to learn how to blog.
Mexico Marches against Violence
Mexicans, fed up with the increasing violence and insecurity their country has been facing this past year, as it was mentioned on this past Global Voices article, decided to have a silent march and candle-lit anthem singing throughout the country and in some other locations like Costa Rica, USA, Spain, Israel, Poland and England during Sunday August 31st, 2008. The website Lets Illuminate Mexico has details about who supported the march, their reasons and it will soon have video and photos.
Bolivia: National Electoral Court Suspends Referendums
The National Electoral Court of Bolivia suspended the various referendums originally scheduled for December 7, including the one that would seek approval of the new Constitution. Mario Durán of Palabras Libres [es] has a roundup of the breaking news.
Costa Rica: Living in Cages
La Jaula en la que Vivo [es] (The Cage in Which I Live) is a new blog that posts photos of houses behind bars, which is a common sight in Costa Rica due to security concerns. The author writes, “we hope that this phenomenon of living in cages ends once...
