Global Voices is an international community of bloggers who report on blogs and citizen media from around the world. Learn why »
The White House petition for the Zhu Ling case has received 137,676 signatures by May 8, 2013. Some web users have made light of the fact that Chinese have turned to an American petition site seeking justice. The following image shared on Sina Weibo is Obama in the Oval Office, which has been re-imagined as China’s Letters and Visits Office. CHINA MEDIA PROJECT has more details.
While Laura [Chinchilla] was talking, at one point he [Obama] turned and looked toward my direction. I took the opportunity and put on my best smile and raised my hat as a greeting. With my other hand I was holding his book over my chest. And you know what? He saw me. He said hello with his eyes. Either that or he was very amused with my hat.
Seeing Red in China has translated current affair commentator, Jia Jia's Chinese dream. Nowadays, most Chinese middle class want to see their daughters and sons going to the U.S and become Americans.
Nora Abdulkarim shares a Saudi-American perspective on the Boston Bombings.
She explains:
I won't try to simplify what is inherently complex. I will simply present and reflect, and nothing more. No fancy theorizing, no overarching message. This post is only meant to be a glimpse at personal identity – that wild thing which one cannot pin down.
More »…[M]uch information has been misunderstood due to lack of knowledge about the Caucasus or Russia and a desire to present the suspects in a framework easily understandable to the American public.
At 7:15pm, the low buzz of a drone was heard overheard. Seconds later, an enormous explosion engulfed the area, destroying the boat and several nearby homes. Sources say 46 Watertown residents were killed in the missile strike, including 12 children.
……
Of course, that's not what happened. But if it did, wouldn't we find it unconscionable? If so, then why are Americans okay with our government doing this to people in other countries?
A hypothetical narration of a drone targeting the Boston Marathon bombing suspect in Watertown by an American Facebook user based in San Francisco, has gone viral amongst Pakistani Facebook users. Within 24 hours the post was shared more than 5000 times and generated hundreds of comments.
A Sarajevo-based Boston native writes on Notes from Sarajevo Tumblr blog that “the last few days [since the Boston Marathon bombings] have served as a reminder of Bosnia’s particularly dark brand of humor”:
[...] To be sure, friends and colleagues here have been kind and considerate, asking if everyone I know is OK (they are.) But some also wasted no time joking about the situation. [...] one said, “Who would want to bomb a marathon? Must have been a smoker.” I’m not one to get prickly about a joke I can’t appreciate, and in fact I respect the instinct to use humor to cope with tragedy, but it did strike me how very badly that would go over in the States right now. [...]
After the explosions at the Boston Marathon on Monday April 15, Twitter became a primary source of breaking news, and also of misinformation. Conversations were curated around the hashtags #bostonmarathon and #bostonexplosions the first days. On Thursday night, one of the suspects, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was killed during a police persecution in Cambridge, and the city of Boston and close communities were on lockdown on Friday during the search (#manhunt) of Tamerlan's younger brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19. Dzhokhar was found wounded Friday evening in Watertown (#watertown). A debate has ensued after it was announced that he will be questioned without being Mirandized (#mirandarights). Many are also worried about how this will affect immigrants in the U.S. due to the Chechen ethnic origin of the Tsarnaev brothers.
At Riyadh Bureau, Ahmed Al Omran sums up Twitter reactions from Saudis living/studying in the US following the Boston Marathon bombings here.
Free Arabs’ co-founder Nasser Weddady – representing the American Islamic Congress – spoke today at an Interfaith Memorial Service in Boston alongside President Obama. To read the speech and watch the video, click here.
Saudi student Wael Omar Moathen shares this eyewitness account [ar] of his experience at the Boston Marathon bombing. Ahmed Al Omran offers a translation here:
Like any human being who lives in this city, I picked up my camera and headed to Mile 26, the last mile in the race. I was taking photos and enjoying the cheers.
Click on the link above to read his experience as the horror unfolds.
Offbeat China translated an interesting online conversation on why a terrorist attack won't work in China after the Boston Marathon Explosions. The answer lies in the difference between the U.S and China in their media environments.
US's quick reaction to the Boston Marathon explosions have Chinese netizens imagining how the Chinese government would react to such a situation in China. Offbeat China has translated some comments from Sina Weibo.
“Every day, across the globe, society suffers the environmental and social impacts of extractive industries. The history of the extractive industries is filled with negative stories…”
Amazon Watch has uploaded a video with a message from Peruvian Achuar indigenous leader Peas Peas Auyi. In the message, Peas Peas Auyi thanks Canadian allies for their solidarity in the Achuar's struggle against mining in the Peruvian Amazon.
More »
Fauna from ChinaSMACK puts together some comments from Chinese netizens on a North Korean propaganda video about Americans.
Screen Capture from a North Korean Propaganda video about poverty in the U.S.
Cuban blogger, teacher and GV author Elaine Díaz Rodríguez was denied a visa to enter the US [pt] Wednesday, April 3, 2013, preventing her from participating in the International Congress of Latin-American Studies. Brazilian journalist Alex Haubrich reported Elaine's frustration with and criticism of the US government's criteria.
Hacktivist collective Anonymous claims to have hacked North Korean government websites and stolen more than 15,000 user records. North Korea Tech blog wrote about their message posted online.
Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield), a Canadian astronaut “currently living in space aboard ISS as Commander of [Expedition 35],” has been tweeting his amazing photos of the Earth daily since Dec. 2012.
Screenshot of “Out of Sight, Out of Mind” Drone strikes and deaths since 2004 in Pakistan by Pitch Interactive
The ramification of the Steubeunville rape case has had an impact beyond the US borders. Following the sentencing of the perpetrators for rape of a minor, CrêpeGeorgette [fr] tries to unpack the rape culture [fr] that has sneaked in in today's society.
The fact is that we are living in societies that find excuses, normalize and tolerate rape.
Mary Ann O'Donnell explains why doctors occupy the same hated position in China that lawyers occupy in the United States. The explanation interestingly is related to the role of the governments of the two countries.
US Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. is in the Saudi capital Riyadh – where he praised judicial reforms in the kingdom.
On Riyadh Bureau, Ahmed Al Omran writes:
The day before Holder’s press conference a Saudi court in Riyadh sentenced two prominent human rights activists to long jail terms and travel bans. Based on local media reports, there was no mention of the trial in the press conference.
For more on the activists’ trial, check out our Special coverage.
Catherine D'Ignazio attends the first hackathon ever held at the White House and writes about it on MIT Center for Civic Media.
On January 23, 2013, an excerpt from the annual report of l'ACAT-France, A World of Torture 2013, makes a fresh assessment of the state of torture in the world [fr]:
“A report called A World of Torture in 2013, assesses torture practices that continue to be alarming, from Pakistan to Italy, by way of South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Australia and Bolivia. From authoritarian regimes to democratic countries, none are exempt from criticism on the topic. In 2013, torture remains as endemic, omnipresent and multi-faceted as ever”.
How many people? Demographics Revealed, a new blog of the Population Reference Bureau and the Population Association of America offers advice on how to write about demographics.
kdmcBerkeley is offering four free online training courses in data journalism. The one-hour courses demonstrate the basics of working with spreadsheets, maps and data visualization.
A new web game called Reality Drop rewards users for commenting or sharing links about articles related to climate change. It was unveiled in California by former U.S. vice president and environmental activist, Al Gore.
Pennsylvania-made tear gas fired at Egyptians in Mansoura. Photograph shared on Twitter by @simonjhanna
One Minute MBA uploaded a video explaining the global economic impact of Sino-Japanese war over the Diaoyu Islands (or Senkaku Islands) if it really happened.
GV Author Filip Stojanovski, in a post on his Science Fiction Observer blog, highlights the work of Canadian science fiction writer Robert J. Sawyer, which is somewhat relevant for the recent resignation of Pope Benedict XVI:
In 1995, I predicted next Pope would be Benedict XVI. In 2000, I predicted Pope would resign. Wonder if Ratzinger has been reading my work?
— Robert J. Sawyer (@RobertJSawyer) February 12, 2013
This site is licensed as Creative Commons Attribution 3.0. Please read our attribution policy to learn about freely redistributing our work.
Based on the Wikipedia list of countries, details.
RSS feed for Quick Reads 
