Global Voices Online

featured stories

Lebanon: Strike Gone Sour

Moussa Bashir · 18:55, May 8th, 2008 · Middle East & North Africa

lingua → ar · mk

May 7 should have been a day for general strike and demonstration to contest the government’s economic policies, price rise and low wages. The workers syndicate had to cancel the demonstration, although keeping the strike on, because clashes broke out in many places around Lebanon between different factions belonging to the pro–government and opposition camps. Bloggers were quick to comment on the events. Here are some of their reflections from yesterday although the events are escalating very fast into gunfights in the streets of Beirut. Check back for more summaries on bloggers posts and reports on the unfolding crisis. 1 comment · »»

Myanmar: Slow relief work

Mong Palatino · 17:51, May 8th, 2008 · East Asia

lingua → bn

The death toll continues to rise in Myanmar days after a deadly cyclone hit the country. Dead bodies are dumped in the rivers. Relief is coming from many parts in the world but the Junta is still restricting the movement of foreign aid teams. The situation is worsening as food and medical supplies are still inadequate. 6 comments · »»

special coverage

Stories

May 8th, 2008

Brazil and Orkut: made for each other?

Daniel Duende · 16:14 · Americas

Orkut, Google's experiment on Social Networking Services, is extremely popular in Brazil. More than 53% of Orkut users is Brazilian -- even more, if you take into account the Brazilian's profiles that don't show their country information and the profiles of Brazilians living abroad -- and more than 70% percent of Brazil's Internet users are actually profiled and active in the network. Daniel Duende takes a look on what are all these Brazilians doing there. 0 comments · »»

Malaysia: Vigil for jailed blogger Raja Petra this evening

John Kennedy · 04:13 · East Asia

lingua → bn · mk

Take note of what's been happening in Malaysia these past few days since popular blogger and political commentator Raja Petra Kamarudin, 58, was imprisoned on Tuesday after a trial which saw him charged with sedition for having written a blog post. 3 comments · »»

The Global Voices Summit ‘08 site is live!

Georgia Popplewell · 03:03 ·

lingua → ar · mg · sq · pt · bn · mk · zht · zhs

We're thrilled to announce the launch of the web site for the Global Voices Citizen Media Summit 2008, taking place in Budapest, Hungary on June 27-28, 2008. Visit the Summit site for background information on the goals of the meeting, our terrific program of events, registration details and information about the charming city of Budapest, and much more. 1 comment · »»

China: EV71 outbreak in China sparks criticisms

George Sun · 02:19 · East Asia

While not bird flu related, the recent outbreak of HFMD (Hand Foot and Mouth Disease) in China gives us an opportunity to see how the Chinese government responds to an epidemic. During the weekend china issued a countrywide alert to control the disease as it is also ... 5 comments · »»

May 7th, 2008

Russia: Putin Out, Medvedev In

Veronica Khokhlova · 23:56 · Eastern & Central Europe

lingua → bn

On Wednesday, Dmitry Medvedev became Russia's third post-Soviet president. Bloggers discuss the outgoing president's legacy, the political situation in Russia, and the traffic situation in Moscow on the day of Medvedev's inauguration. 2 comments · »»

Japan: Death Penalty Broadcast, 53 Years Later

Chris Salzberg · 09:38 · East Asia

lingua → ar · bn

An audio tape recorded 53 years ago of a death penalty execution in Japan, aired by Nippon Cultural Broadcasting on May 6th and and by Asahi television's Super Morning show on April 29th, has triggered conversations among bloggers about the country's death penalty system. The 50-minute audio footage, which features the last moments of one unnamed death row inmate, is the first of its kind to have ever been released. 2 comments · »»

Georgia: War with Russia?

Onnik Krikorian · 07:15 · Central Asia & Caucasus , Eastern & Central Europe

The South Caucasus has always been a volatile and unstable region riven by ethnic conflict and instability. This has especially been the case since the breakup of the Soviet Union and not least because the region is often considered the gateway between Europe and Central Asia, as well as ... 5 comments · »»

Iraq: Stop the massacre in Sadr City…

Salam Adil · 00:18 · Middle East & North Africa

… so says Al-Ghad. In the weeks following the high profile attack on Basra by the Iraqi army and its high profile failure something of a low-level war has been going on across Iraq much behind the scenes of the mainstream media. Yet now the situation seems to be coming to a head. 61 comments · »»

Links

Social Science in the Caucasus, the blog of the Caucasus Resource Research Centers, looks at the the subjective well-being of citizens living in all three South Caucasus republics. Although the data used for the survey is from 2006, the survey finds that the impact of poverty and unemployment is more significant than in other former Soviet countries such as Ukraine and Russia.