Stories from 19 April 2009
Kenya: Wangari Maathai on the Environment and African Leadership
On the blog Safari Notes, Omar Basawad writes some pertinent qoutes from a profile of Prof. Wangari Maathai, a Nobel Prize winning environmentalist.
China: Our right to be spared from fear
Blogger Lan Xiaohuan （兰小欢）, in his post ‘Bitter Smile’, reflects on how a nation permeated with fear has muzzled people's voice. Lamenting that the cost to claim the rights of a citizen is getting higher today, he also lampooned the infusing fear that crushes people's courage and love, concluding that...
Kuwait: Election rhetoric, arrests and the whole shebang
Greetings fellow global bloggers and readers! My name is Amer Al-Hilal and I am the new 'Global Voices' co-author covering Kuwait; a vibrant, highly passionate and astute blogging community, one that has throughout the years encompassed all sorts of interests and events, from consumer-oriented services and products to politically charged calls for protecting freedom of speech, culminating with and leading the 'Orange' 5 for Kuwait movement, which has led to the government redistricting five political constituencies instead of 25.
Palestine: Palestinians in Jerusalem's Old City Under Threat
Activist Marcy Newman writes about spending time in Jerusalem's Old City with a Palestinian family whose home is partly occupied by an extremist Jewish organisation called Ataret Cohanim.
Iran: 19 year old blogger was released
Amir Kabir News site says [fa] that Ali Reza Firouzi, 19 year old blogger and student activist was released from jail in Iran.Read more here.
Bahrain: Who's Calling?
Bahraini blogger Hussein Nasser explains why an Arabic-interfaced phone needs to be told if a caller is male or female.
Zimbabwe: The canonisation of St. Dambudzo
Eshuneutics writes about the Zimbabwean writer Dambudzo Marechera: I begin to wonder about the imminent canonisation of St Dambudzo. A lot of criticism and adulation focus on the radical, the enfant terrible, the creative terrorist.
Ghana: Tips for new visitors
After receiving a few emails asking how much it costs to travel and live in Ghana, Gayle has started a series of tips designed for new visitors, beginning with costs.
Armenia: Yerevan's muncipal election
Writing on The Caucasian Knot, Global Voices Online's Caucasus regional editor comments on next month's municipal election in Yerevan. With previous local, parliamentary and presidential elections haven been falsified since 1995, the blog says, the May vote will represent a test of Armenia's democratic credentials especially after last year's bitterly...
Bolivia: Piecing Together the Life of an Accused Terrorist
Bolivian police killed three foreign nationals in a Santa Cruz hotel. What is not entirely clear is the connection between the men, who national authorities say were a part of a terrorist cell that had been planning to assassinate President Evo Morales, as well as others from the opposition. One man has emerged as the ringleader of the group, Eduardo Rózsa-Flores, a Bolivian-Hungarian citizen with a long history. The media, as well as bloggers, have been trying to piece together his background to draw conclusions.
Japan: The SHADO Collective
Photoreporter Noriyuki Aida (会田法行) presents the SHA-DO Collective (写道・写真家集団). The group comprising Aida-san and other four photographers based in Tokyo — the Japanese Yasuhiro Ogawa, the Greek Androniki Christodoulou, the Spanish David Coll Blanco and the German Eric Rechsteiner — intends to provide “five specific photographic approaches focusing mainly on...
Iran: Ahmadinejad says jailed blogger must have right of defense
According to[fa] the Iranian media President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that Hossein Derakhshan, an Iranian jailed blogger and Roxana Saberi, an American-Iranian journalist who was sentenced to 8 years of prison, must have right of defense.
Morocco: On “Jewish Morocco”
Morocco has a long relationship with Judaism; during the spread of the Roman empire, a number of Jews settled in what is modern-day Morocco. Over time, relations between Morocco's majority Muslim population and its small Jewish population have ranged from very good to heavily strained. Following the creation of the state of Israel, the vast majority of Morocco's Jews emigrated (approximately 15% of Israeli Jews are in fact of Moroccan descent), however, approximately 7,000 Jews reside in Morocco today. Moroccans are often quick to point out that the king's top adviser, André Azoulay, is Jewish.
Bolivia: Raising Ticket Prices on Transportation During the Holidays
During Easter Week, drivers of public mini-buses to the Bolivian Altiplano raise ticket prices much to the helplessness of residents that have no other choice than to pay in order to reach their destination writes Edgar Yana Lisme of Nuestra Cultura Primero [es].
