Stories from 16 January 2014
Unethical Practices In A Bangladeshi Private Hospital
Emma Clare Burton-Chowdhoury, an Englishwoman (married to a Bangladeshi) living in Dhaka, Bangladesh, blogs about her experience in giving birth to a daughter in a Bangladeshi private hospital: The pediatric team at Apollo welcomed the premature delivery of our daughter with open arms as conveniently her special care boosted our...
Is Pakistan's Much-Needed Gas Pipeline a Pipe Dream?
In early December, Iran cancelled a 500 million US dollar loan to help Pakistan finance its part of a gas pipeline that authorities hope will combat Pakistan's dire energy crisis.
Urging Indians to ‘Take the Poo to the Loo’
Sanitation and hygiene remain critical problems for India, with about 50% of its population still defecating in the open. UNICEF India's #poo2loo campaign aims to raise awareness about this issue.
Facebook Teams Up with Russia's Top Search Engine
Scholars and researchers of the Russian Internet can rejoice this week, for Russia's leading search engine, Yandex.ru, is now the second website in the world, after Bing in the United States, to gain access to Facebook firehose data [ru]. This means that Yandex can now search Facebook's streaming API and provide live...
Hydroelectric Projects in Panama: “Promised Development But Created Disaster”
Although dam developers and governments insist that local communities benefit from these projects, the reality on the ground in Panama suggests the opposite: communities are plunged further into poverty, environments are destroyed and irreparable harm is caused. As one witness who is living in the wake of the Chan 75...
Chinese Mum Buys Ad to Urge Her Son to Come Home for New Year
Chinese New Year is a time for family reunion. For many Chinese singles, returning home during Chinese New Year can be a real headache as the attention and pressure surrounding personal matters from the whole family is simply unbearable. Earlier this week, a Chinese mom bought a whole page of ad...
Shall We Start with the Good News?
Global Voices launches a new 'Good News' category for solution driven stories. Are you put off by too much injustice and human suffering? This year, we're making a change.
Russia’s Parliament Prepares New “Anti-Terrorist” Laws for Internet
Another Internet crackdown looms in Russia, where the Duma is reviewing three new pieces of “anti-terror” legislation that could place hefty restrictions on the activities of websites and civil society.
A Papuan Woman's Love Letter to an Indonesian Soldier
EngageMedia has uploaded a video about a Papuan woman's love letter to an Indonesian soldier who was once stationed in the border patrol unit in a village near Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. The video also highlighted the sexual assaults allegedly committed by some Indonesian soldiers in the border. The...
Day 3 of ‘Bangkok Shutdown’ Campaign
Stickman Bangkok posted photos and crowd updates of day 3 of the ‘Bangkok Shutdown’ campaign. Forget what I said about dwindling numbers. Wednesday night saw at least as many supporters out as Monday. These are the sorts of scenes you can expect in downtown Bangkok if you are out and...
BBC's North Korean Broadcast Plan Hit a Snag
It is not the first time BBC's ambitious plan to reach out to one of the world's most reclusive countries has been thwarted. Back in June 2013, BBC World Service’ plan to air programmes in North Korea was curbed by government cuts to its budget. This time, BBC has concluded...
Jamaican Winner of The Voice Sings for Haiti
Just another reason to love Tessanne Chin: she's singing to support a housing programme in Haiti. Repeating Islands republishes the details.
More Money, More Problems? Taiwan Opens Door to More Chinese Business
Even though China is a huge market for Taiwanese businesses, many worry that unrestricted entry of mainland capital threatens Taiwanese culture, freedom of expression and even national security.
